By Aaron Wolfe

I try not to write these filled with “me” and “I,” but it’s hard to avoid when talking about goals and mortality. Sorry.

If you’re like me and on the down-slope of your lifetime peak possible fitness curve you know that the start of each season brings a bit of worry. Has the actual fitness curve already caught up with the peak possible fitness curve? Will I be slower this year in spite of my best efforts, or can I eke a bit more power out of this aging body? Or was last year as good as it’s going to get?

Then there are the structural fears: tendons giving out, cartilage breaking down and general bodily shrinkage.

I think I’ve got a little more room for improvement, so in addition to targeted races I picked an arbitrary power-based goal of producing 5 watts per kilogram for 20 minutes. I like the number five because it’s even and somewhat of a milestone. I like 20 because I don’t want to ride that hard for more than 20 consecutive minutes, and it’s about the longest climb I’ll ever have to do in a race. It also takes me about 20 minutes to climb Perkins going all out. Together 5 and 20 should keep me in good position.

To go from my best ever 4.6 to 5 I’ll have to increase power and decrease weight. Playing around with the numbers I decided to add about 10 watts and lose 2.3 kilos from my average weight last season. 10 watts should be pretty easy all else being equal. If I go down 2.3 kilos I’m at my brother E’s marathon weight, and nothing bad happened to him. I’m keeping in mind that my goal is just to do this once on a test and then not worry about it too much. It’s possible that I was capable of this last year and didn’t test at the right time. My tests are usually on Perkins or on the rollers.

Somehow, I’ve avoided the newlywed 15 even though D likes to keep such staples as ice cream and cheese and cookies in the apartment. Then there are the dinners I’ve been putting on that have required multiple tests of dishes like short ribs, pâté, panna cotta and chocolate cake. (If you want to know more about these dinners and possibly attend one send me a private email.) Remarkably I’m already at my target weight for the year, which is good but shocking news. Is it possible that the carrots and popcorn diet is just wrong, and what really works is some of everything in moderation? Looks like it.

After my first race this year I still don’t have a good sense of where I am with the power goal. I’m overdue for a test and a couple weeks behind in training because the nasty flu screwed up the schedule. In a couple of weeks there will be a sense of improvement or entropy.

New diet in mind, with any luck I’ll be celebrating with mayonnaise and not crying into it. Or allioli to be specific. It’s the Catalan name for garlic mayo, and it translates to garlic and oil. In its basic form it’s just garlic and olive oil, or it can be made with egg yolk to make it a bit more manageable. I served this like ketchup at a recent Catalan dinner I put together. It goes really well on…anything. Toast, eggs, meat, roasted vegetables and, of course, fried potatoes. Or stir it into lentils or rice. It adds richness from the oil and egg and heat and bite from the garlic.

Here’s the basic recipe:

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup or more extra virgin olive oil

Splash of white wine vinegar or lemon juice

Mince the garlic and make a paste by grinding the garlic and salt together with the flat side of your knife. Transfer the paste to a blender or food processor. You can also make this with a whisk in a bowl. Add the yolk. It’s easy to separate the egg by cracking it into your hand then passing it back and forth between your hands until you’re holding just the yolk. Blend the paste and yolk, then start adding the oil a drop or two at a time. Soon an emulsion will form and the mixture will get thick and start to turn pale. Then you can add the oil in a stream. Try to keep the blending time to a minimum so the allioli doesn’t get too hot.

If the mayo breaks and looks like a mess, take it out and clean the blender, then put a little very warm water in the blender. Turn it on and start adding your broken mayo back in a few drops at a time.

When the oil is all successfully emulsified taste and add salt if necessary. The allioli may taste too garlicky. I suggest you go with it. However, if you really think it’s too strong you can continue adding more oil. When you’ve got it right, stir in the vinegar or lemon juice. If you leave out the egg, you won’t need the vinegar or lemon. This will keep a couple weeks in the fridge. The no-yolk version will break quickly, but still taste good.

I know what you’re thinking. Real bike racers do not eat mayo. I call BS on that. They slather this stuff on every time they go out for dinner in Girona. Well, maybe the climbers don’t. However, this is pretty healthy. Olive oil is good for your heart. Garlic is a known antioxidant, especially raw and ground up. Egg yolks are not as bad as was once thought. Plus, this stuff is so strongly flavored that you don’t need much. Let me know if you make this.