Friday, November 14, 2008

 

Today was my birthday ride, I simply went out and rode my bike. No goals, no wattages to look after (although I did take my power meter, I just refused to look at it), no specific purpose of any sort. I just loaded up my ipod (yes, I ride with an ipod, unsafe, yes, but I have my helmet on so nothing bad can happen to me, no?) with the most juvenile music I could find and blew out the door.

 

I let my mood pace me, and my mood wanted to ride fast. Plus, it’s hard to ride slow when you listen to “Let’s Have a War” by Fear. I rode the kind of fast I used to ride when I first started riding and didn’t know that I was a middlingly talented racer with no sprint. I rode the way I rode when I had no notion of the scope of my talent and I optimistically figured that, if I rode enough, I might just try to ride that Tour de France race. I rode with the tail wind of naivete and wasn’t even really bothered when the rain began to hit my face. I rode like a fool and felt all the better for it. 

 

Every coach should add this workout to their arsenal, maybe call it an “idiot interval”?

 

 

Sunday, November 16, 2008

 

Today was another commute to the team ride. I met team ML at the GWB at 8am. I met up with Matt, Andy, Chas, Pascal and Sarah. We rolled out, but little did we know that there was killer among us. Some say that prostate cancer is the silent killer, but they have never met Pascal. As we rode along towards Nyack in tight formation at a reasonable pace, I chatted up and bored anyone I found myself riding next to. When we hit the streets of Nyack we decided against a muffin stop (I hid my disappointment by saying that the wind was causing my eyes to tear up), and instead decided to go to Rockland Park and then ride hills on the way back. A reasonable plan, until we hit the hills.

 

That’s when Pascal tried to kill us. He didn’t opt for a nudge into oncoming traffic or a swat at the handle bars – he was much more subtle. He instead went to the front on every hill and slowly tried to grind us into a bloody pulp of lycra, hair (well, except for Andy) and gristle. I tried to stay with him on climbs and once stayed close by, only to see him raise the pace, so I wisely kept away, as to not draw his wrath again. And that’s how we went through the hill of Upper Nyack. Pascal leading, the rest grinding our way up behind.

 

We arrived back to 9W, the home stretch of the damnded. I don’t know what it is about this stretch of road, but I have almost never been in a group that takes it easy or rides a gentle double pace line homeward traveling south on 9W. Maybe it’s a desire to get home, maybe people are late, maybe it’s the quality of the light or the desire to be rid of each other, whatever it is, this road brings out the hammers. Today was no exception. I allowed Andy and Matt to worry about Pascal at the front of the paceline. I was done. Next time on 9W, I may put up some sort of protest this high paced madness. Maybe a sit-in or a sick-in, perhaps a slow down, I will have to work it out.

 

Monday, November 17, 2008

 

Today saw another attempt on my life, this time it was Mother Nature, specifically fallen leaves. I was out spinning out my wounds from Sunday on my well worn local bike trail. Here in Bergen county, they work on their bike trails year round. They plow and salt the trails, they repave, and in the fall, they blow leaves. Today the leaves had been temporarily thrown all over the roadway. On my first pass, I rolled through carefully, narrowly missing multiple roadway hazards. I went on through the rest of the path, and on my way homeward, I met the pile of leaves again. This time, I wouldn’t miss the hidden hazards.

 

I don’t know if it was a branch or a rock or frozen squirrel carcass, but I hit something solid amongst the leaves. Long story short, I didn’t hit the ground, but I have a large bruise on my ass. If you send me a dollar, I’ll email you a picture if it.

 

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

 

Today my body confused me—not in the After School Special “Welcome to Manhood—Back Hair and You” type way—but in the “why is this happening?” way. I’m still a bit tired from Sunday’s long ride, but in true nutcase bike racer fashion, I decided go ahead to do my 20/10 intervals anyway. I started out riding sluggishly and by the time I got to my hill, I was dragging ass. Yet I did the 20/10s anyway, as I have convinced myself that they are good for me.

 

I was never more glad to have a interval over (I did 355 last week and dropped to 337 this week, ugh!), and all that was left was to get myself home. A strange thing happened on the way back though, I started to feel much peppier, like I was rebounding.  A quick look at the number should bear this out.

 

Before the interval, I did 180 normalized at 116 BPM, after the interval, I did 183 at 131 BPM. A higher heart rate granted, but I felt much better. I am left to deduct that the effort served to open up the systems in my body much like the sun opens the petals of the orchids in early morning. That’s right—I’m a delicate flower. 

 

 

 

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

 

Today seemed like the first cold day of the year. I haven’t acclimated to the cold weather yet, so I started out shivering slightly. These are the worst days of the training year, because I haven’t developed my “winter insulation” yet. A few weeks worth of Halloween candy has helped to bulk me up, but I’m still feeling a chill. To be honest, this year I’ve noticed that I’m heavier­ – hovering at around 155, instead of the 152 I was at last year. Not sure that this will bring on a bout of manorexia, but as I am now a quadragenarian, I may have to start watching what I eat. Ugh. I can’t imagine myself ever getting out the balance scales and weighing my Wheat Thins, but I may have to cut back on the handfuls of fun size candy bars – but I do so under protest.

 

Today I am over the thrashing put out on Sunday, and I felt fine today. I have a hard time getting out the door, but after about 45 minutes or so, I start to enjoy myself. I will have to ride more this week, as I have to chauffer Andy Shen this Saturday, and will not have a lot of opportunities to ride in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

 

 

Thursday, November 20, 2008

 

Today was a “kinda hard” interval for 30 minutes. I did about 260 watts normalized for 30 minutes at an average HR of 163, which isn’t bad really. I’ve had 5 straight days of riding, so I’m starting to feel a little burnt out. Tomorrow I will do my sprints and then I will have a few days off in anticipation of the big feed later in the week.

 

I refuse to deny myself anything at my favorite meal of my favorite holiday. I really enjoy Thanksgiving, no gifts to buy, it’s non-denominational (unless you’re Canadian, of course), and the main goal is to get your feed on. It’s also preceded by the best party night of the year for young single folks, the eve of Thanksgiving – which I call “Boomerang Night”, as everybody has returned and is looking to do damage. I retired from Boomerang Night festivities long ago, but I will salute all the hopeful souls going out the night before Thanksgiving looking for that special someone they knew from home room at the local bar where everyone tried to get into with fake IDs. Good luck. And stay away from the Jaeger, you have a job now, for crying out loud.