WattageTraining Coach’s Blog

I have another post in draft, but Doug just posted this from Iraq.

Never. Stop. Riding.

-g

Yeah, no, not all the future posts will have this kinda title…

But you get the idea.

Tomorrow is another Wheeler Farm CX race. Looking forward to it. The wagon is the in body shop so we are a one car family. Since it is a whopping 6.1 miles from here to the farm, why not ride there…

Which begets the problem of pit wheels and I was gently reminded by Racer that I had said that I would bring his Kreitler fork stand back to him (after practically two years of “borrowing” it!)

Won’t that be a sight to see… me on the cx bike, with race wheels in bags as Morgan recommended…

from here.

with a fork stand strapped to the messenger bag.

But hey, a good warmup none the less no? And satisfies my “commuter boy” designs.

-g

In the bag, got off the couch and down to the rollers.

So a quick 30TSS and 1/140 days in the bag, 139 to go.

-g

And just like that a plan comes together. Yeah, there is a training camp in there. Yeah there is a week in Mexico completely off in there. Yeah there is weight loss and FTP increase and some other plans in there not documented in the pictures.

CTL ramp rate of 5/wk. FTP of 10w/2 wks. Actual days off planned at least once a week (can’t tell you how many times I chased CTL and planned to not give myself time off). Peak CTL a little over 100 mid-spring. Peak W/kg…well, we gotta have some “secrets”, but I might be able to hang on the climbs.

None the less, a plan for 20 weeks is written. Let’s see if I can stick to it.

-g

Kinda literally, as in this farm.

I have been thinking about my (or our, meaning our families) life and impact on everything we touch.

In some ways I am already ahead of the game in terms of impact. I mean by riding and racing a bike think of all the energy that I save that would go to a gym instead of being outside turning pedals.

But why is the bike (for me) only about the racing? Can it not become more?

In a confluence of influences, I have decided that I want to do my best to reduce what we do and improve the quality of what we consume.

Start by reading “In defense of food“. He makes a compelling argument for effecting change in your diet and how and where you procure food. It is the inspiration for the CSA farm commitment. And for selling our hot tub and making that 20×12′ space into a garden for our family.

If you like that, then follow it up with his book on the food chain “Omnivore’s Dilemma ” and you might start looking for more local food.

If I still haven’t lost you, read “Hot, Flat, and Crowded ” and you can see where we are going…

There is Local First that is a great start too…but there are aspects of my life that will be harder. Like my coffee snobbery…will require a tasting test trip down to SLRoasting to try and find a fair trade coffee to replace the Major.

After reading about Vik and others… I think that the big dummy will be a big part of my lowering our impact as well.

Also, even the smaller things count, and because of that I did the whole grocery bag thing and quite using paper OR plastic and went cloth.

So maybe it isn’t that big a thing, maybe it is. What if we all did this though? Wouldn’t it all add up?

-g

With a return of the snow came the return of snow pants. And the fruit of the snow pants was the long lost friend who returned.

The new year upon us and I have been considering what I do and what I can do. Perhaps the talk of change has infact inpired change in myself and my outlook on what I can in fact do. More on that to follow, for a hint, check out JRO’s latest adventure.

-g

2004

2008

-g

So here is some random thoughts about what has been on my mind…

CX has been fun, the legs/fitness hasn’t been there. Last week offered me the most “race” effort I have had, probably in the 30s or so and passing and passing back on the course for the season. All until I rolled my first tire ever and dropped probably 10 places.

So’well.

Maybe better luck tomorrow or Sunday at Wheeler.

Which reminds me - DOWNLOAD your data. I apparently didn’t for two weeks and lost a bunch of workouts including the first 2 races. I know better.

Also, been looking through some of my data from the season. I have been keeping better notes and it has been helpful in doing things like:

As discussed here: http://www.wattagetraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36 feel free to comment.

Also, I found the perfect testing venue right under my nose. I have been looking for a “half-pipe” ala Tom Anhalt, but without a good one to find, I came across a route right under my own nose:

Which generated some nice plots:

Not bad for pulling a 2 kid trailer!

I will try and add some CX race analysis shortly.

-g

would it be to show up for a CX race riding one of these with your two cx bikes and extra wheels strapped aboard?

That would get you hardman status out the box.

-g

what to do with a flat CX course…

The spiral of dispair…

Awesome - still can pass, place to recover, still requires (at speed) skills, and comprises turning both directions!
-g