…another long ride. This time, Kenny (co-worker extraordinaire) joined me for 5 hours of (kinda) easy riding. I picked a route that hit most of the gravel roads in northeast Shelby and west Fayette counties. Kenny rode his singlespeed MTB (34×11?12?) with road tires. The roads and the weather were stunning…
In other shop-related goings-on, watch out for those random “JRA” wheel taco-ing:
Also, Indy and Marley are best buddies:
I made it to Nashville Friday evening in just enough time to have dinner and a margarita with Marsha and Bruce Dickman before heading over to the Nashville Bicycle Lounge for the pre-race meeting. When I arrived, the mix of cyclists there was fabulous- both road and MTB friends as well as a plethora of people I’d never met, but were all very friendly. As I chatted my way up to the front of the store, someone asked me, “Have you met Dan (race director and owner of the Bicycle Lounge) yet? You guys would get along great.” However, it wasn’t a cheery, “oh yeah, everyone loves Dan” sort of “you guys would get along great,” it was more of a “you guys are both not normal” sort of “you guys would get along great”. More on that in another post.
The location of the start of the race was previously secret, and it was soon revealed by Dan that we’d be leaving from Ziggy’s Pizzeria in Gladeville, TN, and that cue sheets for a 50 mile loop would be given out a few minutes before the start. For those of us wanting to race the 100, we’d get further instruction after completing the first 50 miles. I met another woman who said she was going to race in my category, and was happy to have some competition.
Other than cluing us in on the start location, the only thing we knew about the course is that there was some gravel and at least one large hill smack in the middle (a picture of the elevation profile was “leaked” and circulated around the crowd). I did get to meet Dan, and yes, we did hit it it off fabulously, and yes, it’s probably because we’re both weird. STFU and GTFO. We chatted for a while, I picked up a box of Pro Gold stuff from Bruce to try out in the shop/at home, and headed back to Marsha’s to look at a map and see WhereTF Gladeville was…
This post really doesn’t have anything to do with skin improvements, but that phrase has been stuck in my head ever since I decided it’s time to moisturize on a daily basis.
Unlike last year, when I took a good chunk of time off following the NUE finale, I really only laid low for a couple of weeks after Shenandoah. I’m not complaining- I don’t like the “starting from scratch” feeling that it gave me, though it was a really good way to begin laying the bricks that became the foundation for the fitness I’ve been adding to since then.
The last few weeks, I’ve been getting back on the CX bike, though, as I mentioned before, I’m not racing the first CX race of the season. Instead, will be heading to Nashvegas for Crush and Run. The handlebar mount dork-pack is in full effect. Maybe next year at this time, I’ll be at Pisgah with the Cool Kids.
Speaking of next year… the sponsor hunt is still on. I’m still working a few things, but so far, the lack of responses is putting chips in my motivation. I need someone to work for other than myself.
Also, here’s a cool bike that came by the shop a while back…
Yesterday was pretty boss. I kicked things off with the Trinity Group ride. One of Ryan’s Marx & Bensdorf teammates was getting married in NOLA, so a lot of the M-B guys were out of town (congrats to Will & Kelly- sorry we couldn’t make it!) It gave me a chance to occasionally drive some of the pace of the ride, which resulted in a big split in the group somewhere around the west side of Arlington. Boom.
After the ride, Ryan and I had some delicious Mellow Mushroom pizza, did a little shopping, then came home to relax around the house. I worked a little on my road bike to prep it for Crush & Run next weekend. It also needed a little bottom bracket love to get rid of an obnoxious creak.
Later on that evening, I found out that this guy had won a local 24 hour road ride fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital:
That’s Jim. He rode 308 miles from 6pm Friday until 6pm Saturday. He’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but his sweat is weapons-grade corrosive. I know this because I overhauled his bike on Thursday. Any mechanic worth his/her salt will tell you that when you do major pre-event work on someone’s bike just before they have a major success, it makes you feel warm & fuzzy inside.
You know what else makes you feel warm & fuzzy? Homemade risotto. My first attempt at making the rice dish that Gordon Ramsey has made infamous on Hell’s Kitchen was wildly successful (I used Alton Brown’s recipe from Foodtv.com)
Today was a shake-down ride for the setup I’ll be using for Crush & Run. Fashion conscious individuals beware- it includes a handlebar map holder and MTB pedals. Other than a nagging 15mph wind, it was great. I rode through the woods in Germantown to test out my hardshell tires. Everything seems spot-on.
Then, I came home and saw this awesome article on MTBR: Female Bike Mechanics on the Rise in NYC
I can definitely relate to the part about answering the shop phone and having the caller ask to speak to a mechanic. There’s also a customer who comes in and “secretly” requests that one of the guys works on his bike instead of me. Newsflash, hon… we’re all friends. It’s not a secret that you’re a sexist D-bag. It’s all good, though- 99% of the customers who come through the shop are just happy to get their bike fixed, no matter what the chromosomal makeup of the mechanic.
Hey, look! The Crowbar found it’s way on to slamthatstem.com! It’s always been a favorite timekiller for me so I figured I’d submit the RDO since it’s 120mm travel fork necessitates extra stem slammage. For those of you that are visiting here by clicking on the slamthatstem link, here’s a post with some nicer/cleaner photos: http://blog.brickhouseracing.com/?p=3767
I appreciate all of the comments on my last post. I entered Crush and Run this morning. My decision was based not only on the comments, but also on the CX training rides I’ve started in the last week. If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know that since I tore a muscle in my groin at Fool’s Gold a couple of years ago, I’ve had early-season issues with re-injuring it during cyclocross dismounts. In an effort to avoid this, I’m trying to work my way back in to the season slowly, and going full-bore into racing doesn’t seem like a good idea at this point.
In sponsor news, a couple of tentative things are in the works, but I’m still hustling for something major.
Hmmm… so many thoughts racing through my head and no real way to organize them into a coherent blog post.
Since my last post, I’ve been talking to a lot of people who know people about trying to find financial support for next race season. Interbike was this week, so friends who were there made mention of my singlespeed endurance prowess to several companies. Many lines cast, but no bites yet. It sounds as if I really missed out on an opportunity to promote myself by not finding a way to get to Vegas.
In the meantime, I’ve also noticed that every fall, it takes me way too many rides to get at all comfortable on my cyclocross bike. It’s a size too small for me, so it’s got more drop than what I like for off-road riding, and the handling is twitchy. It’s also got a metric crap-ton of toe overlap.
On a more positive note, today I rode with one of the owners of Faction strength and conditioning. He’s a former student of mine and has recently moved his gym to a warehouse office park that I pass by several day a week on my way to ride in Shelby Farms. The nice thing about his place is that if you do bicep curls in the squat rack, then one of the Strongman guys will, in turn, use you in lieu of a log for overhead press. Hopefully things will work out for a winter weight training hideaway.
Also on the positive side of things, the Jet9 RDO is still the most awesome bike in the world. I rode my first sub-50-min lap of Stanky Creek on Friday. I still scare the hell out of myself with it on occasion, but that’s definitely become part of the fun of riding a full suspension rocketship.
And, finally, if all of the planets align and I get to take another extended trip out West next summer, I’ve got a spot at the Leadville Hostel to use as a training base-camp.
On a more random note, I almost glued my mohawk to a tubular Zipp wheel yesterday. Don’t ask.
Post-season race recovery is generally a boring time for blogging. My rides have generally been short to non-existent. Though, yesterday, I did endeavor to participate in the Trinity (weekend world championships) Ride. I quickly realized, though, that my legs felt surprisingly good. Good to the point that they’d give me just enough to stay with the group and destroy myself all over again. So, I decided to preserve the recovery week and pulled off before the pace went from “fast” to “eye-ball bleeding.”
The most interesting thing about recovery week? Probably eating. Ryan and I went to Sea Bistro for lunch. It’s a new sushi place that moved in across the street from Outdoors, and it fvcking ROCKS. I’m currently addicted to the crispy fried tofu.
Today, we’re going to go for a long-ish, relaxed-paced MTB ride, lay around a little, then grill some stuff. I’ll probably be ready to fall out by 9:30. Recovery week also involves lots of that. Sleep is awesome. Recovery sleep is like being buried in concrete for 8 hours a night.
Aaaaand, that’s basically it. Work is busy. All of the 2011 bikes are on sale. Lots of people are wanting to ride again now that it’s not 100+ outside (I miss summer already).
Next stop? Cyclocross.
…otherwise known as “andrea has first world problems”
Fool’s Gold has left me with two lingering things- The first one is a possible crack in my frame. I was in the process of tearing my bike down to wash the abrasive/destructive Georgia mountain dirt out of it, when I found this:
It looks as if the top layer of carbon under the paint/clearcoat is trying to escape, and the headbadge is separating from that side (the bond is excellent the rest of the way around). My best guess is that the headtube lug is having issues under there. Needless to say, Niner sent me a UPS label right after I called them, and the frame is on its was to Ft. Collins, CO for evaluation. Any other time of the year, this wouldn’t really be an issue. However, I’ll be leaving for the Shenandoah 100 in a week (final race of the NUE season), and I don’t plan on running gears. Fuck.
The prospect of tearing the geared bike down to run singlespeed is looming over my head. Because of the internal cable routing, it’s not a simple “derailleur removal & go” process. It’s more of a “run cable guides through my frame and hope they stay in place while I’m racing so it doesn’t take 2 hours to re-cable it once I’m done” type process. I don’t really have the time or motivation for any of it.
The other lingering malady from racing 100 miles is just being tired. I’m exhausted. I could be better, except that I’m on my feet fixing bikes and being a housewife from 5:30am until I sit down for dinner at around 8:30pm. I’ve studied exercise physiology enough to know that the fact that I have such a job and responsibilities is making me slower.
So, yes. I’m lucky to be able to complain about this stuff, but that doesn’t make them any less frustrating to me.
P.S. I said this in the comments, but it’s worth adding here- Ryan puts in his fair share of work/support/etc. I couldn’t even begin to try racing/training like I do if it weren’t for him.
While last Sunday was a very zen battle with heat and the will to continue riding. Wednesday and today were the flipside- repeated, leg-searing ramp intervals.
The workout goes like this:
8 minutes- starting in zone 3 (about 200 watts for me)
every minute, increase wattage
last minute should be a maximal effort (by this time, my goal is to stay over 300 watts)
rest 10 minutes, repeat 3 more times
Because of the need for a steady wattage for short periods of time, it’s best done on a perfectly flat road. My favorite is the river road in Shelby Forest- a gorgeous gem of a State Park that a lot of Memphians have no idea exists or are afraid to visit because you have to drive through Frayser to get there. The 5 miles of totally flat road lies at the bottom of the two largest hills in the county. This, along with the low traffic, heavy tree canopy, and other steep large-ish hills, make the park a haven for training. The singletrack in the park is foot-traffic only, but the terrain is similar, so it’s equally as much a haven to trail runners.
I digress.
Wednesday, I headed out to the park with Matt. He’d never tried the ramp workout, so he opted to sit on my wheel and yell at me if I slowed down. Motivation comes in many forms. My internal dialog normally ranges anywhere from “this last minute is what makes you stronger” to “you’re fat, slow, and you’ll never make it.” I told him to go totally drill sergeant on me. It was very helpful except for the part when he got dropped.
Once I was home, I took a look at my power file. My average wattage for that particular workout have generally been inconsistent. I’ll have one strong interval followed by a drop in the other intervals. This time, my first and last intervals were very close to each other with a dip in the middle.
Yesterday was the same workout, except solo. I finally felt the improvement. Each time I’d get to the hardest part, I found I was able to dig deep and pound out the extra few watts to keep going. Somewhere amidst the drool and snot, I almost smiled. The result? The average watts for all 4 intervals increased a tiny bit each time.
Bam.
It’s nice to feel top end & top end endurance improving before Fool’s Gold next weekend. Hopefully it’ll get me up the climbs a little faster.
Sunday, the entire mid-south was still under an “excessive heat warning” from the National Weather Service. I had 6 hours of riding on my schedule, and the temp would probably be over 100 by noon. If I wanted to avoid heat issues like the previous weekend, I needed a plan of attack for this one.
The strategy?
I have a 2hr loop to Arlington from my house. As boring as it sounds, I decided I’d fill the fridge with water bottles and make 3 laps of the same route with a stop at the house between laps. In doing this, I could have cold water and air conditioning- both very helpful in keeping body temperature down.
Lap 1 was easy. My pit stop at the house was short since all I needed to do was drink some ice water and swap out bottles.
Lap 2 was a little tougher. It contained the first of 2 ten-minute Z4 intervals. The challenge was to budget my energy and fueling properly during the entire ride so that my heart rate could actually come back down following the intervals. The powermeter & heart rate monitor are an integral part of pacing, and lots of experience and experimentation have gone into knowing what keeps me going on a ride like this.
My fueling strategy includes 3 bottles on each lap- 2 with blueberry pomegranate Gu Brew and 1 water. I also had a gel flask full of a mix of EFS gel and Gu Roctane gel (the EFS is very thin and contains a lot of electrolytes, so I like to mix it in to make the other gel flow easier and to get some extra salt). As I discussed in a couple of previous posts, the EFS drink mix doesn’t agree with me, so I’m not using it anymore. With the Gu Brew/gel, I can easily put down (per hour) a 24oz bottle containing 140 calories, ~150 calories of gel, and 100-200 calories of powerbar without getting a heavy feeling in my stomach.
Back at the house before lap 3, things were starting to heat up. I took a longer break and downed some ice water, an electrolyte pill (I like the Elete brand), and a Hanson’s cherry vanilla soda (made with real cane sugar!). That, along with the 15 or so minutes in the air conditioning was successful in bringing my body temperature down some before the final lap.
The final lap was very hot. I had to do one more interval, and just after it, I finished off of my fluids except for a few ounces of water. I still had about 30 minutes before I’d get home, so I decided to watch for a place to refill a bottle. Luckily, part of my route takes me through an RV/Trailer park. There was a guy filling his cooler with ice outside his RV, and I stopped to ask if I could steal some from him. He was happy to oblige, and I was on my way. The hot water inside the bottle melted the ice just enough that I had a good quantity of ice water that kept me going all the way back.
I finished in six hours, two minutes with 110 miles on the Garmin. Tired, but not absolutely dead like the last attempt. Epic layaround and meals followed… complete with lots of TV watching and a trip to Yogurt Mountain (the feather in the cap of any long-ass training week).