Outdoor Addict

Well, it was a somewhat busy weekend this weekend.

Saturday, turned out to be a pretty normal Saturday. Got up, ate some food, did some things around the house and got out on the bike.  I only did a little over 2 hours as it was pretty darn cold out, hovering around 20-25 degrees at the warmest.  Plus the wind was blowing pretty good, so that doesn’t help.  Either way, I put on my 14 pounds of clothing and went out for a ride.  Once I was out, it really wasn’t all that bad.  I took some back roads that don’t have much traffic and went down to Silver Lake.  Its a nice 15ish mile ride, a little bit of steep climbing, but just the right amount of riding for this time of the year.

Silver Lake looking south.

Looking east across the lake.

Winter heaven for fishermen in the wind.

Sunday, well, Sunday was Sunday.  Usually, once or so a month, a bunch o f us head out to the Red Fox Pub for their breakfast buffet.  8 bucks for a bunch of good food??  Yea, I can’t pass that up.

That will get you fueled up the right way

After the frenzy was over, we just came back to the house and relaxed all day.  Kelly and I rarely have any days off together, so it was nice just to hang out with her.  Plus, the superbowl was on, but I think we really only watched 10 minutes of it.  It was on, but why watch that when there is real good stuff on tv?  Plus, you can watch all the commercials online anyway.

Other than the buffet and the relaxing, I kept myself busy by writing up some coaching plans.  Yep, I am now a certified level 3 USA Cycling coach, and it was time to put that knowledge to good use…

Hrm, what else can I do with this thing?

I’m telling ya, that bike just does not want to be ridden.

Last night, before my ride, I went to prep the bike and make sure all is working.  There is nothing worse than getting all dresses up in full winter gear, so stand in my basement to work on a bike, sweating, right before a ride.

So, tire pressure, check.  Hitting all the gears properly, check.  Rear hub seems a little sloppy.  Tighten the cones and such, check.  Lube the chain, check.  Put on new light mount and make sure light works, check.  Remember that the saddle height was a tad low, so raise the saddle….no check.  That is where the issue came in.  Apparently my brute strength broke the seat post collar bolt.

There is nothing like hearing that cracking sound.  Luckily, I have quite the stable of bikes to choose from, so I grabbed another collar and got ‘er running.

Once I was out, it was a nice night for riding.  Temps in the low 30s, sled trails all to my self, nuttin to complain about.  Total, I did about 2 hours, and the back was in good shape for all but about the last 10 minutes.  I expected that, so it wasn’t anything new or anything to be concerned about.  Pretty status quo riding.

Around the mountain I go.

Not sure if I will take out the Pugs again tonight or ride the trainer….probably the pugs as I really don’t want to do the trainer.  Plus, I have myself scheduled for some trainer time Monday or Tuesday of next week for some testing….so I need to stay away from it as much as I can until then..

Someone, somewhere or something does not want me riding my Pugsley.  But I am going to fight it and keep on pedaling.

Monday night was my triumphant return to biking, and not a moment too soon.  I was starting to get a little antsy and cranky, plus my legs were getting twitchy, because of my 10 day spell off the bike.  So to test the back and see how it felt, I just got on the trainer and did a quick hour of zone 2 pedaling.  Sure, it wasn’t the most fun, or maybe not the most productive workout, but it was needed to see how I felt.  And I felt.  No pain while on the bike and less than usual once I got back off.  Seems like I was good to go.

Last night was a horrible night back on the Pugs.  I got on, turned on all the lights and headed down to the train tracks to use the sled trails.  The trails were in great shape for riding because of the recent melt, rain and solid freeze.  I could have easily ridden a regular mountain bike with no issues.  About 10 minutes in, there was a bad patch of super soft snow.  It looked like a sled got dug in and tore everything up.  I braced myself and thought I would just float over it.  Well, it was significantly deeper and softer than I thought and my front wheel went straight down.  I went from 13 mph to laying on the ground in about 2 seconds.  When the dust settled and I finished giggling to myself, I picked up the bike, but my light was dangling.  Somewhere in the 2 flips I did, the handlebar mount hit something and broke.

I was not about to let that slow me down.  I got back on the bike, put the light in my hand and just held the light.  I got out about 20 more minutes and on a wicked downhill and went down hard on a slick spot of ice.  I would have been better prepared for the ice, bit I couldn’t see it.  Darn broken light bracket.  Another fall going 13 mph again.  Plus, I lost another water bottle in the crashes.

The land on the ground sent a shock up my spine and after laying there a bit, I decided it was not meant to be.  There was no way I was going to go out there and give it another shot with a busted light, so I limped my way home to save myself from falling again and really hurting myself.

That makes 3 out of 4 rides on the Pugsley bad news.  Let’s hope that ratio changes quickly..

Yep, that’s what the Weatherbug iphone app said this morning for the weather here in North Conway.

Is it really that cold?  I don’t know, but its pretty damn cold.  I would say the high was no higher than 15, that is for sure.  And I would imagine that the gusts of wind are around 68 mph.  I barely slept last night due to the high amounts of wind keeping me awake.  It is pretty safe to say that I will not be outside on the bike, or hiking, or anything tonight.

Other than the big new of the arctic blast, today is just business as usual.  My goal for the weekend is working on getting myself on a team for this upcoming year.

Unfortunately, GT has decided to discontinue the Dirt Coalition for next year, so there goes option 1.  I thought something was possibly lined up in case that would be the case, but it never happened.  So there goes option 2.  I might have a possible option 3, but I do not have high hopes for it, so it looks like option 4 might be the case.  Option 4 is going to be pick and choose any bike I want (what will it be, big wheels, tiny wheel, only 1 fork leg, who knows?!?!) and just head out on my own, sans team and hopefully beat up on some of the other racers…unless anyone out there has any info/contacts on a team they would like to share with me.

Now, if the weather would just get out of the teens and my back would be back to at least 75% functional, I would get back out there on the bike for some needed miles.

Its been one week since my back has really started bothering me again.  I am keeping up with the few times a day stretching, the core workouts and everything that could possibly help when it comes to getting better.  Yet, some days, when I get out of bed, like this morning, it feels like I will be needing a walker to get around.

Yes, thats right, I wear a helmet to bed.  Ya never know when the waters are going to get rough and you need some head protection….ok, I really don’t wear a helmet to bed.

Its a funny thing how sleeping in a bit different position removes all the progress for the week.

Either way, while the back is still sore, my legs are getting antsy.  Yea, I have gotten a lot of projects around the house done and have read a bunch, but I miss riding.  I don’t race because someone told me to.  I race because I have a passion for being on the bike.

I have decided that I will be taking today and tomorrow off, and with the highs in the teens this weekend, I will be doing some short spins on the trainer.  Maybe an hour, maybe half an hour, maybe even more, who knows.  I will let my back dictate what I do.  The funny thing about it is the one position I feel no pain is when I am on the bike.  It is when I stand up and get off the bike, straightening my back out, is when it hurts.  Damn you core muscles.  I think with just spinning the legs lightly, it will help put me back mentally to where I need to be.  Plus, there will be live coverage of the cross worlds, so there is no better time to be on a bike.

Well, its almost like spring time is here.  But I have lived in New England long enough to know not to get excited.  It is the last week of January, and March is usually the “snowiest” month of the year.  So, no need to get all excited yet.

With the 40 degree temps, also came the rain.  And boy did it rain.  Luckily, I live on the very top of a hill, so there is no concern, but those in the low lands, like Weston’s and Sherman Hill’s farms, not so lucky.

For those of you that know the area, these * were from yesterday morning:

Heading west on River Road right after Weston’s Farm.

Same location

These signs are normally about 4 feet tall.

Same spot

Looking South on the Saco.  Those pillars are usually 20 feet out of water.

More pillars

Looking east across the bridge toward Weston’s Farm.  Usually about 25 feet of space below the bridge before you get to water.

Weston’s Beach parking lot.

View from the bridge.

The one thing that the rain and warmth has done that really effects me, is it has ruined the snow.  Sure, I don’t wish there was any, but it is that awkward in between time, where the snow is too crappy to ski, bike, or snow shoe, but there is still snow on the ground, so no single track to be had.  Ohh well, what can ya do??

On a side note about the back, every day things are getting a little better.  Today, I took a quick spin around our warehouse, about 30 seconds worth of being on the bike and the back felt fine.  It was when I tried to get off the bike and stand up that I had the problem.  I am figuring that I will stay off the bike until the weekend and see how it goes then.  I can say, that without being able to do anything, ride, hike, run, ski, anything, I am pretty bored with my time.

* All photos used were taken by Derrek Schlottmann.

Well, there has been a lack of posting because there has been a lack of riding lately.  Totally not my fault.  Let me run over the series of events that have led me to this problem.

Last weekend was a great weekend for riding, just like I last reported.  Monday and Tuesday are my normal days off/rest days depending on how I feel.  Wednesday, there was some household chores and things of that nature that got in the way, so no riding there.  Thursday was looking like the perfect morning.  Kelly took the pup to work, so I was all clear to ride the Pugsley.  With all the luck I had during the weekend smiling and riding that behemoth of a bike, I thought it would be the perfect thing to ride.

So, that is what I did.  I got on the bike, headed towards the sled trails to get to work.  I didn’t really know how long it would take me, but from previous, shorter excursions, I was assuming an hour and a half.  With some trail closings, loose snow and a few other obstacles, I made it to work in an hour and 25 minutes.  Perfect.

South view from the Trestle crossing the Saco.

Views to the north from the same trestle over the Saco.

That is where the problem came in.  Because of the ruts left by the sleds, my back was pretty fried.  I have been having some issues with it from skiing, but nothing that I couldn’t deal with.  When I swung my leg over the top tube to get off the bike, it took me a solid 30 minutes plus a HOT shower to be able to stand up straight.  Not good.

Because of the back pain that has plagueing me for the past few years, I  know better. No need to get on the bike.  So here we are, Tuesday and still no riding.  But things are getting better.  Through the use of an inversion table and a bunch of yoga positions and stretches, I can almost walk straight up right.  With the exception of my work chair and Jeep seat, I am able to sit comfortably for longer periods and am able to get up and walk around.  The toughest part of my day, tying my shoe laces.  God bless Crocs.

One good thing about this is I now know the cause of all my back pains.  With this latest episode, I have begun to do some core strength exercises and my core strength is awful.  I always suspected that, but this has confirmed it.  So, the plan is to lay off the bike for a day or 2 more, keep up with the daily yoga, stretching and core workouts (something I really should be doing daily anyway) and I will hopefully be back on the bike by the end of the week.

What a killer weekend for riding.  For the 3rd week of January, I couldn’t have asked for much better temps.

On Friday, temps were supposed to be up near the 40s.  That is something I NEEDED to take advantage of.  So, I took a bit of time off from work and went out on a nice 2 hour lunch time spin.  I have to say, I am pretty lucky that I can take 2 hours off during the middle of the day to ride.  Then again, I work in the bike industry, in New England and its winter.  There is virtually no chance of that happening during the summer time when we are busy.  Either way, a nice 2ish hour spin to get the legs prepped up for the weekends effort.

On Saturday, when I checked out the weather, I couldn’t believe what I saw.  A high near 50?  Hot damn.  There was no way I was going to miss out on this. So, a quick breakfast and a nice walk with the dog and it was time to get down to business.  Dressed up with the least amount of clothing that I have put on in the last couple of months, I went out for what was looking to be a 4 hour day.  About 2 hours into it, the worst came true.  In my rush to get the morning things done, I didn’t eat enough and I was going into the red quickly.  I took in as much Hammer product as I could (Perpetuem and gel), but there wasn’t much I could do from that point on.  Ohh well, I had to cut my 4 hour ride down to 3, but not a huge deal.  Sometimes those things happen.  I just need to slow things down in the morning and take in the calories I need to.  Rookie move.  Either way, it was a good ride and was nice to be out in 50 degree weather.

Route from Google Earth

Sunday couldn’t have been more different than Saturday.  The high was supposed to be in the low 40s and chances of snow all day.  It looks like I did the right thing to get out on the road bike on Saturday and get out on the Pugsley Sunday night.  After last weeks little issue (my crank arm fell off due to me not checking bolt tightness), I did some needed maintenance to the bike and finally got out around 4:30.  Man, that bike is fun to ride, but it sure is a TON of work.  Some things I always have a hard time remembering when on the bike.  1)It isn’t quite as “flickable” as my carbon hardtail.  When coming around a corner, I can’t get the back end to move around things.  2)That bike is a pig.  At around 35ish pounds, it takes a lot to move it.  With the Pugs, its all about the workout, not the speed.

With that being said, I did the smart thing (wait for the sarcasm).  I took it to one of the tougher climbs in the area and did some climbing with it.  The climb I chose was up Cathedral Ledge, which for the first section has an average grade of 17.5%.  That is a hell of a climb on a 35 pound bike.  With the climb out of the way, I was able to get a few more miles in before I had to turn around to get back home.  Even with the climb and tiring legs from the past weeks effort, I had a smile on my face 95% of the time.  It is just to hard not so smile while riding that big goofy bike.

Route from Google Earth

Elevation Profile

Sure, doesn’t look like a huge elevation gain or anything like that, but 17.5% for .5 miles using a 35 lbs bike in lose snow is quite a tricky climb.

Today is Monday, and that means one thing.  Cleaning up the bikes from this past weekends efforts out side.  With a 50 degree day under its belt, even with fenders, the bike is pretty trashed, which will give the legs a bit of a breather as they have been worked pretty nicely this week as well..

In case any of you ever wondered, this is exactly what I picture hell to look like.  The view from my trainer.  Never a good thing.

Sorry about the horrible picture.  That is the best my phone could do and I currently cannot find my normal camera.

Because of yesterday’s post, I needed to get off my ass and get down to business.  So, when I got home, I walked in, gave the Mrs. a kiss and just went to get changed.  There was nothing getting in my way from riding the trainer.  Spinervals #22.0 – Time Trialapalooza was what was the prescribed workout.  Even though I had this dvd for about 3 years now, it was one that I have never done.  Not sure why, but I just never did it.

Gotta say, it was a pretty solid workout.  It is about 80 minutes long, consisting mostly of 4 intervals: one 20 minute interval at a few beats below your lactate threshold (LT), one 15 minute interval at about your LT, which is about 5 beats higher than the first, one 10 minute interval a tad higher than your LT which is about 5 higher again, and then a 5 minute, all out, leg burner.  See for yourself with my heart rate file:

That last one is an average of 186 beats a minute for the 5 minutes.  That will get ya going.

Plans for tonight??  More of the same, but a different video.

Almost a month since the last post.  That has to be somewhat close to a record.

I am still here, sticking with the bike, doing the things that need to be done for another year of racing.  Let’s get caught up since we last left each other.
For the end of December, I went back home to Pennsylvania, to visit the fam and got to take the bike with me.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all that cooperative, so I only got to ride once.  Ohh well.  Nutting you can do about that.

Since then, I am back here in North Conway, doing my best to keep my sanity during these few months of cold weather.  I got out the cross county skis a couple of times (1, 2, 3) hit the trainer a bunch and also have been outside on the bike as much as possible.

For some reason, getting up and going this year has been more difficult for me.  I am not sure if it is because of how much time I have spent on the trainer last year and I know the amount of suck that is involved, if it is because I have a new coach (more on that), or if because I haven’t inked a partnership with a team yet.  It’s gotta be one of those three, a combination of the three, or something completely different, but the motivation isn’t there.  I need to do something to change that and unfortunately, it mostly involves the trainer.

Last year, the XC skiing was pretty good due to the amount of snow we got.  This year, it has been pretty chilly out there, but the white stuff just hasn’t been falling.  At all the local cross country ski areas, they keep grooming, but the bare spots are popping up all over the place and it isn’t something I want to run my skis through.  So trainer riding it is….I guess.

So, it seems like it is up to my new coach to get me motivated.  And that certainly adds up to problems.  You see, this off season, I did some studying up and passed my test and became a USA Cycling certified Level 3 coach.  Do I plan on doing much with the certification??  Probably not, but I did it to help myself out.  I figured that if I knew the basics of coaching, I could relay more valuable info a a coach in order to help out my current plan.  Since I am going at the training on my own this year, the feedback isn’t helping.  I think last year, when I was working with Grasky Endurance, I felt an obligation to them, not to make them “look bad”.  I felt that if I didn’t do what was prescribed, and didn’t achieve my goals, it would make him look like a bad coach, something that he certainly wasn’t.  He was a great coach and I learned TONS from him.  Either way, I am now out there by myself, and I need to get my keister in gear.  Nothing more needs to be said.

As for a team, I have some things in the works, but it just seems as if any of the final paperwork has not been passed back out for the 2010 season.  I know when I got my contract signed with GT last year, I worked extremely hard to show my team mates what I really could do.  Hopefully the paperwork will come through soon and the same effect will happen.  Which also might mean a new bike……YEAH!!!!

As for races this year, I will not be the 1 trick endurance racer I was this past year.  I have decided to branch out a little bit and do some other races, to make me a more rounded rider.  I have decided on a road race, or two, as well as some of the shorter cross country races in the area as well as as many endurance races as I can  and still have a positive season without killing myself.  With all of the different style of races thrown in, it should help when it comes to cyclo-cross season (scheduling the races with some recovery time is a VALUABLE lesson learned from last year).  Last year, when I made the transition from endurance to cross, I feel it was too late.  This year, along with the long rides, I will be throwing in some shorter rides to prime the system.  Now, I just need to look at all the schedules and races I am thinking about and put together a solid season.

That’s it for now…..off to ride the trainer….ugh..