Speedy Gonzales

I am a happy cyclist today. I just beat my track record which was set back in 2010. And, I beat it by 32 seconds. That’s all.

Feeling a little deflated?

Yesterday, I got my first puncture in a long while. Ever since switching to the Bontrager Hard Case Lites I have not suffered a puncture out in the field, as it were. I think it was on the Frenchtown practice ride back in 2010 that I got my last puncture. So to get one on a local ride means it is time for new tyres.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day for riding. A very slight breeze, maybe too light to be even considered a breeze, coming from the East. I was finally out in short sleeves so the temperature at 6am was nice. Sunday had been a hot day and I got a little burned working in the back garden wearing just a vest. So I was looking for a faster time as I was not wearing a layer that would add air resistance.

My first checkpoint is after 2 miles, once I get to the top of Hoffman Lane, to the West of the landfill. 8:15 minutes is a good time to get there but I am normally around 8:30 – 8:45. From my time there, I can usual gauge how the rest of the ride will go, especially if I can discern the direction of the wind, if there one. Yesterday’s split was 7:49. I could barely believe it. That’s a great split. Of course, when I get a split like that, you know there is not going to be any letting up. My next split is when I come back to Motor Parkway after climbing Blydenburg Rd. I got there in 18:58. Under 20 is a great time there so I was very pleased to see 18 at the front.

The rest of the ride was going well. I got up to 37+ going down Motor Parkway and it has been a while since I have gotten that fast. Normally, with layers, it is about 32/33mph. So I was maintaining the pace, if not actually increasing it. Nipping down Terry, where I was briefly dismayed having gotten behind a school bus which put on its red stop lights, then along Johnson to Ocean Avenue and back up to the start of Motor Parkway, I got there in 36 minutes. Normally I think 38 is a fast time. By now I am sure I am challenging for my best ever time around this route. I got my second best time ever last week, down two minutes on the all time fastest, but I was almost two minutes faster on that time already.

I was zipping around the lake when I got the feeling that my back tyre was flat. You can tell straight away. It is a feeling of harmony with the bike and you can tell when the wheel behaves out of character. I checked the tyre and it was deflating. I slow wheeled around to a safer place to change the tyre. As I was trying to inflate the spare a little before tucking it under the tyre, I couldn’t discern any air coming out of the inflator. No! It’s broke? Couldn’t be! But it was. I tucked the tube inside the tyre, popped the tyre back into the rims and tried inflating the tube. Nothing. I disassembled the inflator, wondering, hoping it was just dirt. Put it back together and felt a little air. I twisted the inflator a little more and felt more air come out. It was going to be enough to allow me to limp home rather than go all out.

I decided to take a different route as I had given up on the fast ride and I nearly got lost. I knew I was in the triangle between Motor Parkway, Ocean Avenue and Old Nichol’s but where in that triangle I was, I couldn’t tell. I decided to head east, after coming to two dead ends as I was bound to hit either Motor Parkway or Old Nichol’s. Fortunately, I came out on to Old Nichol’s and from there, I found Townline which leads to home.

So it could have been a fast ride, a very fast ride, but it wasn’t to be. However, I think it is indicative that I am feeling strong which is just as well as I have a 400k on Saturday and then the big ride of the year, the PA 600k the following weekend.

Cranbury 200k – the 2012 version

The Cranbury 200k is usually the flattest and the shortest of the NJ brevets. It is a test of measurement to see how well you have come out of hibernation. Two years ago, for my first full brevet, I did a pretty reasonable time. Last year, I had minor surgery in January and was off the bike some weeks, this year, I was off the bike some months since I started that diet back in October. It was going to be interesting to see how the diet affected the performance.

For this year, there was going to be some additional climbing. Nothing major but more than what is normally expected. Two weeks before the brevet, the temperature warmed up and I thought I was going to be cycling in shorts. As the even approached, the weather slipped back into coldness and the thought of dressing in shorts dissipated.

The 200k is just over 125 miles. My longest ride in 2012 was 20 miles. The distance didn’t scare me. The speed did. How slow was I going to be? Most of my training had been focused on the CTS sessions. Were they going to be of any benefit?

Everyone set off at a mild pace. Did some chitting and chatting at the beginning. Seeing people I hadn’t seen since France and others ever longer still since the brevets last year. Nigel was doing the brevet on a fixie so I was asking him questions about that. Am I interested in getting one? Maybe I can convert the Trek. One minute I was having a chat with Patrick and then next second, he’s disappeared from sight and he is on a wild goose chase trying to track down Katie and Jonathon on the tandem.

The first rest stop came and I grabbed a BK breakfast sandwich. Most people were not eating BK stuff so I dropped from the main pack as I finished off breakfast. I caught up with them at one of the lights. However, at mile 40, I started feeling the effects of little energy. When we started climbing up for the information controle, I dropped way off the back content to climb at my own pace. No rush.

The second rest stop was a new one for the course. One of the ocean bridges was closed for repairs so we had to come further inland. This meant there was no stretch of ocean views for miles and miles but it also saved us from the wind which normally accommodates that stretch. Climbing or wind? I know which I prefer. So I was pleased to reach the second rest stop. Not desperate by any measure.

At some point on the third segment, we joined up to the old course. There is a four mile stretch at the end where you can pass the other riders leaving the last controle on their way to the finish. I was expecting to see many riders as they headed for home. However, it was only Ren and his brother Robert I saw as I approached the third controle. I seemed to be doing fine though I was aware my speed wasn’t great. Janice had her brownies as a nice surprise at this checkpoint. I thought she had not baked any so was delighted to see them. When Dawn and Rick arrived at the controle, Dawn announced she was going to take two of them. They were quite popular. Thanks, Janice.

The last segment I felt worn down. There was only 31 miles for the last segment but it seemed to take an age. I was passed by a few people as I headed for home. I just didn’t have much energy to put up a decent pace. I kept counting down the miles and soon enough, as with all rides, the end is reached.

It had been a long drawn out ride for the first one of the season. I came to the conclusion that CTS was no substitute for miles and that doing 2 or 3 CTS sessions per week could not replace actual mileage on the roads. So I came back home with the intent of getting outside more on the bike and to see how I could incorporate the CTS sessions into the training week.

When I got back home, I was pleased to discover that I had beaten last year’s ride by 30 minutes. More climbing and less energy. However, I do remember last year being windy. Still, it was a quicker ride but way down on 2010. I have a feeling that 2013 will beat the 2010 time. We’ll see next year!

Neglecting to update the blog

Seems as if I have been overly neglectful of the old blog here. I need to finish the postings about the first brevet of the year and the fleche ride I did with Team Sins of the Fleche.

I have signed up for the Eastern PA 600k as I cannot do the flat NJ 600k this year. That’ll be a 400k and a very hilly 600k on consecutive weekends. Look forward to that.

The Specialized bike is in for a service so will be training on the Trek this week. I am enjoying going back to the big circular rides around Lake Ronkonkoma. They add a bit of climbing though not much. I wonder if I can get a Port Jefferson ride done before work in the morning. I’ll see what my shortest route is with the climb from Port Jeff.

I have started doing spin classes on Sunday mornings. They are tough though very enjoyable. I paced myself better today knowing what was coming unlike last week whereby I reached the top gear very quickly and couldn’t move the pedals at one stage. The music is pretty good too.

Wow, an outdoors ride

So, I ventured out on the road this morning.

Riding on a road is a different beast altogether. You’d have thought that with the constant pedalling an indoor bike brings, you’d be in fairly good shape for an outdoor ride. At least, I would have thought. I had rivers of sweat running down my spine after three miles!!! Ok, that was probably down to my choice of layers; I think I have forgotten how to dress for the outdoors. It was 51F when I left and 48F when I came back. I was surprised in the drop of temperature, especially as the sun had risen, but I did come to a cold patch on Vets Highway.

I threw on both front lights, the dynamo and the Nite Rider, and the last two remaining back lights. I need to purchase a couple more now, one bust! Hey, did you know Nite Rider has closed down for business. I don’t think their lights for bicycles have closed but the division that made diving lights. I had one of their lights for diving and it was like a beacon but I think I shorted in on one dive trip and it never worked after that. I have a bigger beacon now which lights up a football field!! But I digress.

I filled up a water bottle, threw on the frame bag and set off. I should have brought a Gu. I really ought to have. Anyway, I didn’t and I barely took a sip of water. Cadence, I think, was high and that’s probably the side effect of doing the Hill Speed workouts. I headed off down Smithtown Blvd, then on to Portion Road and then on to Patchogue Rd (Ave?). It was nice to see a newly painted bike lane on Patchogue Rd. It goes all the way down to the LIE. When I say “new”, it’s probably been there for months!

Riding along Vets Highway, I saw the landfill. Is this new? I recall seeing it when driving in the car with Alma and we weren’t too sure if was new or not but riding the bike and taking some time going past it, it definitely seemed like it had not been there before. I have cycled up that road many times and don’t recall seeing it. Must ask Becky tomorrow.

As I reached Connetquot River State Park (where we hiked on Saturday), I suddenly felt chilled. It is the faster section of the ride with a slight downhill, but I immediately thought, west wind!! The leaves weren’t even moving, ha! I was glad of the layers then. Coming back along Townline (opposite direction) it again felt like a head wind but again the leaves weren’t moving. Probably just a drop in temperature.

Anyway, I got back and felt pleased I had done the ride. No real drawbacks from having done the CTS yesterday. I’ll be back out again tomorrow though this getting up in the dark is getting old fast!

Clocks going forward is bad for morning training

With the clocks going forward this weekend, I now have to set the alarm in the mornings so I can get up in time to do an hour+ training session before getting ready for work. Fortunately I work from home so at least I don’t have a commute to take into consideration.

I missed getting up yesterday in time as I wanted to do the CTS Monday leaving Wed-Sat cycling outdoors. So I slept till after 7am and this is too late for me to train as I like at least an hour before I have to log on. I put the alarm on for 6am. With Alma gone for the week, it was okay to have an alarm that early. It was pitch black when I awoke. It so reminded me of getting up early for wreck diving. I do not like getting up when it is dark outside. It feels wrong. It didn’t start getting light until 6:40am. So now I am thinking, outdoor cycling is going to suck on the mornings during the week. Maybe I will just stick with the indoor bike and do CTS sessions!

This morning’s session went really well. Another Climbing Speed. These are the toughest of the three part climbing series. I never did get around to trying it last year and now I am wishing I did. Not that I suffered for the lack of that training as I was positively bouncing up the hills in last year’s PBP, except the night finish in Montagne on the return leg!! Last week I was doing gears #9 and #6 for the second set of Under/Overs. This time, I went for a #9 and #5 split. Even though I managed to get through the one minute at #5, the next minute back on #9 suffered as a result. I returned back to the #9 and #6 split. I felt strong throughout the session and think I now need to look at making the gears harder somewhere. So training seems to be going well.

These Speed workouts

They are definitely the toughest workouts I have done. I go through almost 2 bottles of liquid and then I am following that up with a recovery drink today, just because I have yoga tonight. Today I didn’t feel like tweeting much between intervals which is saying something; I wanted to concentrate on recovering for the next set of intervals. The recovery spins went really quick today.

For the second set of Unders & Overs, I went with gear 6. On Tuesday, I felt #7 was a little too easy and 6 was a much better gear to use. I could possibly switch to gear 5 but we shall see how that goes. I think the next step will be to switch to gear 8 for the Unders.

I just realised that my first brevet is 3 weeks from Sunday which means I need to get outside on the bike. From next week, I’ll be doing outside work. I think I shall keep this training session for Mondays, have one day recovery, and then outside on Wed – Sat. Sundays are for hiking. I have yet to decide on the routes for next week. Maybe the Nichols Road one with the sprint under LIE.

Ok, time for showering…

Tough, tough workout

Ok, I was expecting worse. I really was. It was a tough workout but I was expecting worse. They reckon 1-2 of these workouts per week, 2 being the ideal number, which just goes to show.

After the usual 10 minute warm up, there are two 8-minute segments. The first one consists of 8 x 1-minute intervals all at a cadence of 90-95 and power output at 100%+ of field test effort. The gearing is different with the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th interval requiring a harder gear but keeping the same cadence. Eight minutes at this cadence pushes you. Well, it pushed me. A three minute recovery spin followed by another 8 minute segment. The difference between the first and second segment is that the even minutes on the second segment are at a cadence of 75-80 so to allow for that, and keep the same power output, the gear gets even harder. For these two segments, I used gearing of 9 and 8 for the first segment and 9 and 7 for the second one. I think I could possibly push those but I wanted to see how I got through the whole session.

A nice five minute recovery spin followed then on to the really intense intervals. Two sets consisting of one two minute segment, one 1:45 minute segment and one 90 second segment. The recovery segments match the intervals in time so they get shorter. These intervals are at maximum effort. A four minute recovery separates the two sets.

In the Climbing Power intervals, the second set are two minutes intervals with a 30 second push so those are more intense than these ones. BUT, these ones follow two 8 minute segments which push you more than the first set of intervals on the Power ones. That’s the big difference.

I was pleased to get through it but I really think I can do it with harder gears. I certainly will not be doing a second session tomorrow!

Built for Speed

Ok, I was really curious and we all know what happened to THAT cat! This morning I decided to have a quick preview of the Climbing Speed DVD. Rather than just put it on and see what they threw at me, I wanted information up front. I am going to attempt it tomorrow.

It looks tough. It looks really tough. May not have the energy to tweet!

There are two 8 minute segments after the warm up and they do not have any recovery times built in, or at least, the recovery section is not as demanding as the highest power. Four minutes separates the two segments. Then another break and the some progressive downhill accelerations. Downhill! That means fast stuff and on an indoor bike, downhill means pedalling, no freewheeling.

In a perverse way, I am looking forward to it but I am not sure if I’ll be able to do two days i a row. I have yet to figure out which gears I will be using so the first session tomorrow may see me chopping and changing a lot initially.

Wish me well.

Hill acceleration training

This week I have switched to the Climbing Power workouts in the Carmichael Training Climbing Series. I remember this findly from last year. The workouts are really intense but provide great rewards. I attributed the dropping of a couple of cyclists on one of the hills in last year’s PBP to this training. They were drafting behind me and not willing to share the lead so on the next climb I pushed. These intervals are high intensity for two minutes and after one minute I heard them break as I continued the maximum effort on the second minute. Such sweet pleasure.

Anyway, yesterday, I ran out of steam on the 4th hill acceleration interval. With 15 seconds left of the workout, apart from the 8 minute recovery spin, I ran out of steam. It was all I could do to keep pedalling. Back to back sessions are only recommended for experience cyclists. I consider myself experienced, a bit, so wanted to see how I could do today. I like setting myself little goals like this. Today I was determined not to run out of steam.

By the 5th and 6th intervals of the first set, I was beginning to feel the effort. A five minute recovery spin did not bring my heart rate back down to below 109 which it was yesterday. The first hill acceleration was toughened out and I did not make a full recovery. Was even worse than yesterday. This workout is designed not to allow full recovery between intervals. The second and third intervals went by and I was really feeling drained. The 4th, the last, one came and I was bound and determined not to run out of steam. I kept pushing myself and managed the final 30 seconds without running out of steam. My heart rate was in the high 170s.

It had been tough but I really liked it. Day off tomorrow!