Weather seems to always throw the Sunday training for a loop.  Today was really no different.  Seems each weekend we get an awesome Saturday...and then the weather on Sunday goes to hell.  Today was supposed to nice solid 4 hr mtb tempo with a focus on climbing.  Well, needless to say, all the dirt climbs are covered in snow....and the road climbs are being snowed on as I typed this.  Option B for today?  Complete the 4 hour tempo on the mountain bike in the required HR zones by tag'n along on the Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling team ride.  The team has it's roots here in Ft Collins, and some of the riders are in town to do some wind tunnel testing.

We had a small group today...about 13 or so of us.  A few locals...the rest were Bahati team riders.  Behind us and out of the picture was Steve Owens and Rick Crawford of CPT in a follow vehicle.  Where were my hand ups?  Extra clothes? I had no support..;)

 

Rahsaan Bahati tries to warm his digits.  40F is cold when you normally train in the LA area.  Notice there are no mountains to be seen in the background.  Mother nature is dumping snow on them.  We stayed on the flats mostly.

Local hammer, Johnathan Garcia, says....."What up boy-eee!"

My weakness today was trying to push the mountain bike into the wind while riding with this group.  My HR would jump 20 beats at the front.  I spent 1/2 the ride tag'n on to the back of the pack.  I still had to work to maintain some contact.

Today's technical data...HR and elevation.  The last leg when we went over the Horsetooth dams was a good kick in the nuts.  Of course we hit it going north to south.  That first climb is a bitch!

2 solid days of training complete.  Feels awesome to get some good hard efforts in the legs after a lot of travel the last 2 weeks.  Next week looks to be super in the weather department.  hoping for some good drying action to happen so I can get on the dirt with the mtb...instead of the road.

This picture is all I have from today's Oval Ride.  I was on the "rivet" too often to pull out a camera.

Seems I was working super hard today to just maintain contact with the group....by far the worst I have felt on this ride this year.  With an estimated 50 riders in the group today you would think that the ride would be easy at times, but for me, it seemed I was fighting the second we left town.  I dangled near the back for the duration that I was on the ride.  Yes, I said "duration" meaning that I did not finish the ride with the group.  As we were riding into Berthoud...a little over 2 hours into the ride....the shoulder we were riding on had a section that was washed out.  Think of a series of 6 inch deep holes in the pavement.  I hit this section at 30 mph. Thankfully, I was hanging on tight to my hoods, or I would have went face first onto the pavement.  The noise that resulted from hitting this section of road had me wondering if my DT Swiss front wheel would detonate later down the road.  Only resulting carnage was a tire that would go flat about quarter mile later.  Damn it!

My Oval Ride was over.  The group does not wait for anyone....so I pulled over and fixed the flat.  By the time I got the flat fixed, Carney and Luke Harris caught up to me after having lost contact earlier in the ride.

The entire ride today was sketchy.  There was just this weird vibe among the group.  A lot of near misses as well as a crash going up the Windsor "Wall".  Yes, I said "up".  All things that rarely happen on this well oiled group ride.

I get a redo next weekend.

Click the image for all the details!

This is not rocket science.  Ha!  Ever since I posted this concoction you see above, people have been asking me how to make it. Heck, there is no recipe....that I know of, this is something I threw together starting a few months back because it satisfied my nutritional needs at the time after a hard ride.  Has everything you need:  Carbs, protein, iron, antioxidants, good fats, etc, etc.

- 1 cup of pre-cooked basmati rice.  I batch cook rice at the beginning of the week.

- 2 large eggs

- 1.5 handfuls of spinach....add more if you like.

- Salt to taste

- Pepper to taste

- Turmeric to taste

- 1-2 tbsp olive oil

- Cheese (optional)

1.  Heat up a frying pan on medium heat.

2.  Add olive oil.

3.  Add rice.

4.  Add spinach.

5.  Add salt, pepper, and tumeric to taste

6.  Add cheese (optional)

7.  Stir it all around to mix it up.

8.  Add 2 eggs...break the yoke.  You can also just use the egg whites if you like.

9.  While on medium heat, stir it all together.

10.  Let it sit for a minute or so.

11.  Stir again.

12.  Keep stirring and letting it sit until the eggs are cooked...like scrambled eggs.

13.  Once cooked, dish it up and eat!

Waiting for the weather to get warmer.

Waiting for the 2010 team clothing.

Waiting for the 2010 team bikes.

Waiting for the SRAM XX build kits.

Waiting for the first race of the year.

Waiting for the dirt to be dry enough in Colorado to be able to ride it.

Waiting for much, much, much more of this......

 

Waiting for something exciting to blog about.

It is only February, and I already know how I will be spending my first week in August.

Stoked!

It was good to get back to Tucson, AZ for the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo.  The weather was perfect.....except for a stiff wind on Sunday AM.  The masses gathered on Saturday morning for the pre-race meeting.  Team Topeak-Ergon was made up of 5 riders:  Dave Wiens, Yuki Saito, Sonya Looney, Rebecca Tomaszewski from Niner-Ergon and on a SS, and myself.  Yuki got things started for us by being the 3rd person back after lap 1.  That gave us a good placing to start churning out laps.

Nothing special with bike setup this year.  Chose to run the FS bike as it was ready to go.  I added the Continental Race King 2.2 Supersonic tires set up tubeless with Stan's. Dave was the only one on a HT...and he was rock'n the new SRAM XX.  Rebecca's SS Niner was also a HT.

My laps were pretty un-eventful with no major mechanical issues or tangles with the local flora.  Basically stick it in the big ring from start to finish and pound out the course while dodging slower riders and cactus.  Image above is from my final lap at 8 AM.  Worst thing in the entire race was the stiff 20 mph head wind on the south side of the course on Sunday AM.  The wind was a good kick in the teeth after racing for 20 hours.

Although day time temps were in the 70F's. The AM and night laps were a bit chilly....as seen here at around 8 AM on Sunday.

Our biggest competition was the Stan's team which was made up of Niner-Ergon riders as well as other Ergon sponsored riders.  We yo-yo'd with them all race....we catch up....then loose some minutes to them.  This eventually added up. We walked out of the desert with a 2nd place.  All of us were more than happy with that result.  From the looks of the lap times, it appears the training is right on schedule for 2010.  Below is the team's lap times.

I am in Boulder for the weekend, so I hit the Gateway Ride to get in my 'race effort' for the week.  Had about 50 folks show up...give or take a few.  A lot less than last week according to some riders who mentioned there was close to 120+ riders!  Wow!  50 riders is about the right number.  It is a safe number.  You still get some good talent that shows up and you can still work the peloton.  Today, I was able to talk Yuki into coming up from Denver to enjoy the suffering.

Unlike the Oval Ride in Fort Collins, this ride is what I call "choppy."  One minute you are red-line....next you are at a chill pace. This goes on for a better part of 2.5 hours.  Fast.  Slow.  Fast. Slow.  Definitely takes a toll on the legs at times.

The group stops for food after Carter Lake...and to regroup. The switch backs up Carter Lake always blow things apart in a major way. Yuki seemed happy to stop. Hehehehehe!

We finished out the ride in 2.5 hours with fewer than we started with. The 2.5 hours mark was just the beginning as Yuki and I headed out for another 2 hours of some climbing work.

Yuki grinds away up Old Stage Rd.  50-60 rpm is not fun.

Then we climbed up to Jamestown. Had enough yet, Yuki? 

After Jamestown it is all downhill back to Boulder. Lightly thrashed legs welcomed the nice downhill.

Riding downhill holding camera with one hand and using the front brake in the other hand on sandy corners is....umm...yeah...sketchy at times.

We got back to the house with a ride time of 4.5 hours and 95 miles for the day. Yuki then gave me his secret weapon. Green tea KitKat's! Yes, they are green....and yes, they taste awesome!!!  What is better than sugar and green tea antioxidants.  Word!

On the way back into town, we rode upon a multi airplane crash on the northern edge of the city of Boulder.  WOW!  Unreal!

A week off the bike is a long time. Doesn't seem like a lot, but when your body is used to it....the effects are noticeable.  The last few days I have been getting back into the training groove.  Lots of 'Sweet Spot' intervals to get the system back on track.  Yesterday was on the flats along I-25.  Today I needed a change of scenery, so I headed west to play on the rises in the foothills.  Wattage goals today was a set amount of intervals at 280-290 wts.  The fun part is keeping those wattage numbers while you climb at 12 mph and descend at 30+.  Tomorrow will be more of the same.

I arrived home to some more wheel boxes sitting on the door step.  This time it was my wheel build for my CTR bike.

It is no secret that DT Swiss is a Topeak-Ergon team sponsor.  So, that is what I have to work with.  Came up with a build that is light and durable.  Also, these wheels can be repaired along the route if that issue should arise.

Straight out of Grand Junction, CO and build by the man himself.  Thanks guys!

The pieces are coming together.  Both for the bike....and the engine.