SEABASE vs STELVIO from YUHZIMI Ltd. on Vimeo.

Share/Bookmark

But, there are reasons….yea, yea, yea, excuses, excuses, I know.

Since the last post, work has had our open house, we had some of the busiest weeks for the past several years (good to see the bike industry is doing well), I have been training and I have been working on a little coaching adventure.  More on that later.

The riding has been pretty consistent.  Weather has done its best to keep me off the bike, after all, it is March in New England, but over all, things have been pretty good.  I use the commute to work as a good base line fitness test and I am certainly on par with where I was last year and where I need to be.  So, I guess no complaints about that.

Then this morning, not having to be to work until 10, I decided to try and sneak a quick workout in.

Yea, I know, the desk is a little cluttered…but that wasn’t the biggest problem.  It was the fact I was, AGAIN, inside on the trainer…..I thought this stuff was over.

Back to the coaching.  After some conversations and such, I have decided that with my new cycling certifications, I decided to open up my own coaching company, Precision Endurance.  Sure, there isn’t anything going on yet with it, but I just bought the domain on Friday, filed the official government paperwork on Saturday, so now just trying to do the “creative” thing, which I am no good at, to make the logo, slogans, websites, and all the things that go along with it.  That, and I got myself all kinds of paperwork to get a personal trainer certification, and a few other odds and ends to help out, including a lead on a coaching internship.  Do I see us being the next Training Bible Coaching outfit? No, but hopefully some good things can come of this….Heck, I already have a couple clients signed up..  And no, Precision Endurance won’t just be doing cycling, we will be doing ALL SORTS of disciplines: running, swimming, cycling, triathlons, you name it, we can help with it.  If anyone is looking for such a thing, let me know and we can work something out for you….all plans will be at least semi-custom as I don’t think “cookie cutter” plans will do the job you are looking for..

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for success..

Share/Bookmark

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..

Share/Bookmark

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..

Share/Bookmark

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.

Share/Bookmark

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..

Share/Bookmark

The always tricky backwards view

Views of Shawnee Peak.

Another backwards shot.

What I got to see, for a little anyway.  I caught them before the crest of the hill to get my important King of the Mountain points.

Gota love backwoods Maine.

View from what I believe is Hawk Mountain

Another View

Ice buildup from the end of the ride.  I had to stop and clear it many, many times.

Other side of the bike

I like the ice build up on the cables.  That is the reason I usually ride a fixed gear in this type of weather.  Nothing to go wrong.

Share/Bookmark

We ended up getting about an inch or so of snow the night before, so I was a tad concerned about my decision to ride the cross bike.  But, I really didn’t want to dig out the mtb, so cross it was.  I met up with JJ and A1 and headed over to Bridgton Academy to meet up with DEA and clan.

This was my first gravel grind, so I really didn’t know what to expect.  From all the rumors I have heard about it, it lived up to my expectations.  There was some nice tarmac riding, followed by dirt roads, then through a field, back to roads, to more dirt, to roads to blah blah blah…I think you get the point.

The day started off pretty bad. I started to dig out all of my gear and found out I completely forgot my shorts. How was I going to ride 2+ hours with no chamois. Simple, I just manned up and rode. I was offered some “loaners” but there was no need for that. To be honest, it wasn’t really as bad as I thought it would be.

The big excitement of the day was that I was one of the few who road a bike with gears and since I had gears on a “skinny tired twenty niner”, my job was to win every king of the mountain point and win all town lines.

Winning the town lines ended up being tricky.  First, while on dirt trail in backwoods Maine, there aren’t many town line signs.  So, it got a bit out of control, but we were sprinting for every sign we could find.  Turn signs, no trespassing signs, no ATV signs, you name it, we sprinted for it. Sometimes, the signs were facing the opposite directions, we raced for it.  Even if the sign wasn’t on the trail we were riding, I seem to remember A1 sprinting through a field with his bike on his shoulder, just so he could get a no trespassing sign.  So, while the ride started off nice and casual, that quickly ended and it seemed like I was sprinting more than just riding.  Ohh well, good cross training I guess.

Then there was the actual “Welcome to Bridgton sign”.  It seems that A1 and JJ had teamed up to sucker me for the line.  While I was being nice and pulling for the single speeders, they said I was geared to high and to shift down.  Click, click, down it went.  “hey, what gear are you in” was the next question and when I looked down to see, BAM, there went A1 sprinting for a line I never saw….DAMN, 1 real sign and I missed it.

While chuckling about being bamboozeled on the sign, I saw another sign up ahead.  A few clicks and I was out of the saddle for it.  As I worked my way around the dynamic duo again, I felt a nice elbow into my side and I was pushed right toward JJ.  With some spectacular maneuvering (should read, just swerving around, nothing fancy), I made my way around and just lost out on another sign.  DAMN!!!!  However, I did sleep a little better knowing that A1 had to spin about 200 rpm to beat me.

I had enough.  I got off the bike, walked a few steps and “David Millar’ed” the bike into the ditch, with a big smile on my face.  Of course, there were no fans or team mechanic to pick up the pieces, so in the ditch I went after the bike.  Finally, a nice casual ride back to DEA’s.  I did win that last hill, but somehow didn’t get the points.  I think when the TAWF team races together, there is a lot of cheating going on with the outsiders.

After the ride, a great lunch followed, thanks Karen, with the usual PBR drinking.

Altogether, it was about 18ish miles of riding through parts of Maine that I have never been through and a pretty well laid out trip.  Great planning on DEA’s part.  I can’t wait for the next “team ride” so I can start using my elbows back for the town lines.

Data from the ride:

Share/Bookmark

So I sit here in the airport, finally relaxing. I knew this Interbike was going to be different from past years and it was. I wish I would have worn a pedometer to see how much I actually walked, because I am sure it was a lot.

On task now it to get all my riding gear together and head down to southern Vermont for the last endurance race of the year, the Vermont 50 on Sunday. Nothing like a race 2 days after Interbike. Once back from that, its time to get the cross bike up and running.

Share/Bookmark

The last time I was here, 2 years ago, I stayed in one. This year, I have been walking and walking and walking etc. I have seen every booth about 16 times. I have seen lots of good things and gotta say, the want list is SUPER big right now.

Either way, whatever I do whether it is walking around or standing in one spot, Interbike has been a good time. But I have seen enough and it is time to go home.

Share/Bookmark