Tomorrow's training ride. Just enough to keep the legs going, not enough to mess up Sunday's TT.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
One Helluva Week
The weekend went pretty much ok. Got in a nice ride on Saturday, even with that nasty gash in the tire. Working BikeJam was a good experience for me. I'm still a rookie at some things as an official, even though I work a lot of races I've never been a pit ref for a race where the pit actually had business. It was a great learning experience and now I know how to do the job really well at future races. Some of it was easy - races that stay together don't require much in the way of scoring - how many times do you need to write down "F" for field? Some of it was hard. And we had a great time over at Lisa's post-race. I didn't get home until after 11pm... good thing I can nap on the train going in to work on Monday morning.
Monday morning the hamstrings bitching about spending most of the day Sunday standing around was an omen of things to come. Rest of the day was ok, no big excitements, nice pleasant yoga class. Tuesday all hell broke loose with the race scheduled for Saturday that I'm Chief Ref for.
Tuesday evening was a bright spot though, cause I was riding the Ordu and really enjoying it that evening. The Serotta was over at the shop getting the new, narrower bars put on. It was a good evening.
Wednesday saw the continuation of the thrills and chills relative to the race. Two days of emails, phone calls, conferences calls and careful considerations led us to conclude the race had to be postponed. Pain in the ass for all but the risk of someone getting hurt was too high, better to race next month and have safer conditions.
The whole thing was really draining. I actually had to have my chiropractor wait to work on me while I finished up the last phone call with the promoter. Thankfully he's very active sports-wise (coaching his kids' teams stuff like that) so he was totally sympathetic when I explained to him why I was being ever so rude as to be on my cell phone at that moment.
Whew, got all that behind me. Though I ended up staying up late just to unwind. Legs were feeling progressively better as the week went on. Thursday... always a good day at the point, big bunch lots of options for pace. But by the time I got there I was tired and unmotivated. But I knew that if I found some folks to ride with, I'd be fine. The bunch was big and I debated joining in...sometimes when it's that big it's just a little too sketchy for my tastes. I pulled into the parking lot, picked up Kenny and did a lap with him. We did a little ring spin lap - lots of fun. Pulled in to the lot again to hook up with Angie and some others. But then Iris went by riding with 2 others - a woman with a CapHillBikes jersey and a guy. I was chatting with an NCVC rider and decided to chase on to that little pace line. I had no trouble doing so and when I got up there I noticed the NCVC guy had come along for the ride. I went to the front near the end of the lap and easily rode away from the group. Then let them pass and hooked back on for the next go round. It was definitely a busy night at the Point. Probably 80-100 cyclists total (not all in one bunch), walkers, runners, skaters, and of course cars and tour buses. Definitely a night to ride very heads up....
The woman with the Cap Hill jersey (turns out her name is Lindsay) was on the front, then Iris and then me. I don't know if the guys were still with us behind me or not. I don't much worry about who is behind me, I stay focused on the important stuff - what's going on ahead of me. So we come around the point and Lindsay picked up the tempo. No problem. We were right at the speed limit (the powertap download shows it as 24.9mph) when disaster struck. There was slow traffic ahead, we took the left lane - why not, we were going the speed limit. But then the car in the right lane that was going slow decided it was going to come into the left lane to get around some walkers (I believe there were 3 walking side by side sucking up the entire right lane) and didn't bother to check that it was safe to change lanes. I know I yelled out, but I was third wheel and the guy had the windows closed....
Lindsay reacted well, did her absolute best to swerve to avoid the collision, smartly slammed on both brakes so she didn't endo, but still hit the car - her right side taking the impact. He was going slower so he stopped first. His driver's side mirror, the one that he should have used!, broke away when her hip hit it. Mama Duck mode kicked in, even though I didn't know her at all. I stopped. I stayed with her. I checked over the bike. The cops came. I told them what happened. Iris told a different story. I shrugged when the cop told me that. I couldn't explain the difference. I just know what I saw from my perspective. Thinking about it now, I write it off to the fact that she probably isn't as hyper aware when riding as I am so she didn't have a clear picture, maybe she was riding a bit too much head down too.
The good news - rider and bike appeared to be pretty much ok. Still, we sent her off to the hospital in the ambulance so she could get checked out well and maybe some heavier duty pain killers. She's got to be hurting a lot today. Manny took her bike so it'd be safe - the cops offered to lock it up, but well, folks don't understand what bikes mean to cyclists (nor do they necessarily understand the actual dollar value).
I know the driver didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. And I think it really scared the hell out of him and his family, I really hope it did and that he'll be a better driver because of it.
It was comforting to see how the cyclists responded...definitely a sense of looking out for our own. And yet by the time I got home I was deeply depressed. I'm still depressed today. Not sure why. Certainly not the first mishap I've seen. Maybe it's just the sum total of the week's events. I don't know.
Hopefully the weekend will go great - ride tomorrow, race Sunday, ride Monday. First I gotta get out of this funk.
Monday morning the hamstrings bitching about spending most of the day Sunday standing around was an omen of things to come. Rest of the day was ok, no big excitements, nice pleasant yoga class. Tuesday all hell broke loose with the race scheduled for Saturday that I'm Chief Ref for.
Tuesday evening was a bright spot though, cause I was riding the Ordu and really enjoying it that evening. The Serotta was over at the shop getting the new, narrower bars put on. It was a good evening.
Wednesday saw the continuation of the thrills and chills relative to the race. Two days of emails, phone calls, conferences calls and careful considerations led us to conclude the race had to be postponed. Pain in the ass for all but the risk of someone getting hurt was too high, better to race next month and have safer conditions.
The whole thing was really draining. I actually had to have my chiropractor wait to work on me while I finished up the last phone call with the promoter. Thankfully he's very active sports-wise (coaching his kids' teams stuff like that) so he was totally sympathetic when I explained to him why I was being ever so rude as to be on my cell phone at that moment.
Whew, got all that behind me. Though I ended up staying up late just to unwind. Legs were feeling progressively better as the week went on. Thursday... always a good day at the point, big bunch lots of options for pace. But by the time I got there I was tired and unmotivated. But I knew that if I found some folks to ride with, I'd be fine. The bunch was big and I debated joining in...sometimes when it's that big it's just a little too sketchy for my tastes. I pulled into the parking lot, picked up Kenny and did a lap with him. We did a little ring spin lap - lots of fun. Pulled in to the lot again to hook up with Angie and some others. But then Iris went by riding with 2 others - a woman with a CapHillBikes jersey and a guy. I was chatting with an NCVC rider and decided to chase on to that little pace line. I had no trouble doing so and when I got up there I noticed the NCVC guy had come along for the ride. I went to the front near the end of the lap and easily rode away from the group. Then let them pass and hooked back on for the next go round. It was definitely a busy night at the Point. Probably 80-100 cyclists total (not all in one bunch), walkers, runners, skaters, and of course cars and tour buses. Definitely a night to ride very heads up....
The woman with the Cap Hill jersey (turns out her name is Lindsay) was on the front, then Iris and then me. I don't know if the guys were still with us behind me or not. I don't much worry about who is behind me, I stay focused on the important stuff - what's going on ahead of me. So we come around the point and Lindsay picked up the tempo. No problem. We were right at the speed limit (the powertap download shows it as 24.9mph) when disaster struck. There was slow traffic ahead, we took the left lane - why not, we were going the speed limit. But then the car in the right lane that was going slow decided it was going to come into the left lane to get around some walkers (I believe there were 3 walking side by side sucking up the entire right lane) and didn't bother to check that it was safe to change lanes. I know I yelled out, but I was third wheel and the guy had the windows closed....
Lindsay reacted well, did her absolute best to swerve to avoid the collision, smartly slammed on both brakes so she didn't endo, but still hit the car - her right side taking the impact. He was going slower so he stopped first. His driver's side mirror, the one that he should have used!, broke away when her hip hit it. Mama Duck mode kicked in, even though I didn't know her at all. I stopped. I stayed with her. I checked over the bike. The cops came. I told them what happened. Iris told a different story. I shrugged when the cop told me that. I couldn't explain the difference. I just know what I saw from my perspective. Thinking about it now, I write it off to the fact that she probably isn't as hyper aware when riding as I am so she didn't have a clear picture, maybe she was riding a bit too much head down too.
The good news - rider and bike appeared to be pretty much ok. Still, we sent her off to the hospital in the ambulance so she could get checked out well and maybe some heavier duty pain killers. She's got to be hurting a lot today. Manny took her bike so it'd be safe - the cops offered to lock it up, but well, folks don't understand what bikes mean to cyclists (nor do they necessarily understand the actual dollar value).
I know the driver didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. And I think it really scared the hell out of him and his family, I really hope it did and that he'll be a better driver because of it.
It was comforting to see how the cyclists responded...definitely a sense of looking out for our own. And yet by the time I got home I was deeply depressed. I'm still depressed today. Not sure why. Certainly not the first mishap I've seen. Maybe it's just the sum total of the week's events. I don't know.
Hopefully the weekend will go great - ride tomorrow, race Sunday, ride Monday. First I gotta get out of this funk.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Random Thoughts
After the evil agonizing ride of a couple of weeks ago, I'm very happy to say that all is right between me and the bike. Our differences are resolved and we are a harmonious team once again. This is a good thing.
They've posted up the schedule for Master's Nationals. I'm glad that I will get my racing done in two days now instead of having to be out there for a week. Still have to get out there ahead of the TT. It's a new course, so a pre-ride is absolutely necessary. And that ride will get the drive out of my legs (though I plan to drive with my recovery tights on!).
I am happy to know that I will not be doing the Tour of Washington County Stage Race. It really wasn't any fun last year and there's absolutely no point in doing it this year when it's time based. I probably wouldn't make the time cut from the RR to even get to the TT and Crit, so no need to waste the time and money.
"Think about it - how long would you last doing intervals with no rest?" (I won't name names on who typed that but some of you might recognize it.) Stuff like this cracks me up. Intervals with no rest aren't intervals, it become a sustained effort when there's no rest. Like duh. How long would you last doing a sustained effort? Most of us do it for about an hour or so in the form of a 40km TT. It's not really what the author of the statement was trying to say, but that's how it came out. And that amuses me.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hamstrung
I had this great plan for last weekend. Finally I had a weekend clear - no concerts to work, no concerts to attend, no races to officiate. Just the bike club annual dinner that I could always skip if need be. So the plan was to ride, a lot. A nice 60-miler on Saturday and then drive out to KA for the Sunday ride. Even the weather was willing to cooperate. It was going to be a weekend of cycling indulgence that I seldom get.
Mid week training - check. One visit to the gym. Check. Massage and chiropractic adjustment. Check. An excellent schedule to lead up to the weekend. But oh no, couldn't have that happen, nope, not an option. By Friday the legs weren't doing all that well - especially my hamstrings. My hamstrings tend to be tight - that's part of me. I do yoga and stretch to try to keep them from getting too tight, but they have a will of their own. So I went out for a lunch time run - at a very easy pace - to see if some movement wouldn't improve the situation. It didn't seem to make things any worse but didn't improve matters either.
On to the massage... oh yeah, those hamstrings were not happy campers. Lots of work to try to clear the congestion. Off to the chiropractor...yup tight, tight, tight. At least my midback was happy to pop back into alignment.
Saturday morning, things were not improved to speak of - the hammies were still complaining. I went out and rode my bike anyway. Never have I suffered as I did. No time trial, no hilly road race, no crit, nothing, had ever had me hurting on the bike the way I was on Saturday. It was manageable for the first 30 miles or so. But then things started to get significantly worse. Over the next 20 miles or so, I felt every muscle in my upper legs engage in an effort to compensate for the hamstrings until I reached a point where they all were worn out and sending pain signals. Never before had my legs hurt so bad. I dropped off the back of the ride - sometimes it's best to suffer alone.
I reached a point in that solo suffering where I was ready to be done with cycling in any way, shape or form. Never would I lead a ride for the club, hell, I'd resign as treasurer. Never would I train or race, ever again. Had there been a dumpster in sight, it might have turned into a re-enactment of that scene from Karate Kid where Daniel (not yet Daniel-san) while cycling was run off the road by the bullies on their motor bikes and battered and bruised as a result tossed his bike in the dumpster loudly professing his hate for the machine.
Then I moved beyond it ignored the physical pain, set aside the emotional pain, rolled up to the stop sign where the rest of the group was waiting and sat on the front, pulling at the agreed pace for the last few miles of the ride. The weekend's riding was done though - I knew there was no way my hamstrings would be recovered such as to tolerate a hilly ride out of KA the next day. I was figuring that if I could once again touch my toes by sometime on Sunday, I'd be doing great.
The effort took so much out of me that I spent a lot more hours asleep than normal - both over night and taking a nap on Sunday. The pain had mostly faded over night but walking seemed to be as much effort as my legs were interested in doing. I didn't argue. The recovery day did its job and I'm all better now. The 4 mile run at lunch yesterday went without a hitch (though I think it's time for new running shoes) and yoga did its magic. I guess the true test will be tonight on the bike, but I don't doubt that the legs will be fine, even happy to pedal. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I managed to push the mental barriers back a bit so that I'll be able to suffer more effectively in competition.
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