Last Cleves Time trial of 2015

27.2 mph, 348 watts avg on a rainy and cool evening; held back a little on some of the downhills given the conditions but overall a good effort to finish the season on that course

Hate to Hear This!

I just heard that a Cleves participant and well know local crit/road racer was involved in a horrible accident last week that has left him paralyzed from the chest down. He was heading through an intersection in Mt. Lookout when a car turning left hit him. Certainly wasn't his fault but bikes lose against cars every time. I know this guy is a safe rider and this was just horribly bad luck. Here are some tips on keeping yourself safe:

try to avoid riding at rush hour
avoid riding with the sun low and behind you
take the less busy streets and use trails if possible
have front and back lights
wear bright clothing
never go through an intersection without looking both ways, even when the light is green
never run red lights
always assume cars don't see you and ride accordingly
where a mirror...always good to know whats behind you
consider the rear light that is also a 5 hour camera...never hurts to record the people blowing by you

Power Intervals

I did 10x1 minute, 1 between at 489, 507, 524, 506, 497, 499, 486, 498, 483, and 483 followed by 4 x30 seconds at 585, 573, 567 and 528; pretty tired by that last one so I stopped and road at home for a bit

2nd Last Cleves TT of 2015

Came in at 22:22, 27.6 mph, 90 rpms. 354 watts avg. ..second fastest of the year for me....3 watts better than last week but 40 seconds faster...felt good to get in a fast time before the end of the season. Very calm night, good temps around 70 and had the camera crew for the movie being made about Cleves ahead of me with the GoPro's and also the hand held camera out the back of the hatchback. It was motivating knowing they were filming and it helped having Matt Bole start 30 seconds behind me. He caught me after the halfway point and then I tried to not fall too far behind. He helped me average a little over 28 mph on the second 5 miles. The move, "Seconds to Years" is going to be filmed through next year also. It covers the riders who show up week after week, year after year, trying to get faster and faster along with the training, equipment, and dedication that goes into it.

2nd last Cleves tt Tonight

Took it easy the last two days after last weeks Tuesday TT, Wednesday spin and circuit class and late day ride in TN, Thursdays ride to the top of Clingmans Dome and afternoon hike, Fridays 72 mile ride to Cades Cove and afternoon hike and Saturdays hike around the cove. Just looking for a solid time in the 22's tonight, somewhere north of 27 mph.

Held my Strength Training for Endurance Athletes seminar last night. A small but interested crowd.

Skip an endurance day....

...and add in another strength day. Or, if you don't do any strength training, use that day to start now. Strength training is so important for any age endurance athletes but especially those in he masters divisions. Adding strength training to your program only during the winter months is pretty useless as the benefits will be gone in a few weeks once you stop again in the spring.  Strength training is a great way to prevent over-use injuries, correct imbalances, and improve the efficiency of your effort. The old 'I don't have time' excuse doesn't work. Skip a run, ride or swim and add in some time doing lunges, squats, pushups, dips, pull ups, planks, etc. The benefits will greatly exceed what you would have gained from that day of endurance training.

September in the Smoky Mountains

Great trip to do some hiking and biking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for a few days. Rode about 150 in the first two days with about 12,000' of climbing. Also did some hiking and plenty of photography with plenty more on my Facebook page. 

Cleves Time Trial

not a super fast time at 23:02, 26.9 mph, but power was decent at 351 avg; pretty balanced between the first and second halves also...kind of cool, not much wind

Non-stop indoor cycling classes

Over the last two weeks I've used two different options for non-stop 55 minute indoor cycling classes. In one, we did nothing but climb the entire time with resistance varying from 5-10 on a scale of 1-10. Resistance on the Keiser bikes on the upper end went from 15-20, maybe 21. With the climbing effort we did mainly seated efforts varying from 10 seconds of mainly anaerobic efforts to longer 3-5 minute efforts at 85-92% of max HR. With the constant high resistance, recovery was limited between intervals. If I remember correctly, average cadence was 92 and average power at 245.

The next week we went with high cadence start to finish with resistance varying from 3-8 on a scale of 1-10 or gears 13-18 on the Keiser. I found this to be more of a challenge than the climbing. The time between intervals was on the easier gear but pushing 115-120 rpms. Like above, we did 10 seconds to 3-5 minute efforts at varying resistances. I the end, average rpms came in at 111 and power at 220. Going to the 55 minute circuit after this was difficult. I was really dragging halfway through that class.

Strength Training for Endurance Athletes Clinic, September 21 at Cincinnati Sports Club

As a part of Trainers Week at the Cincinnati Sports Club I'll be offering a clinic on Monday evening the 21st of September on Strength Training for Endurance Athletes at 7:00 pm. We'll be discussing the reasons for year-round strength training and not just during the winter months, how to work it into your year-round training schedule, the benefits to your sport and life in general.

Just a Few TT's Remaining

We have just three left at Cleves and I'll do one more at the Blue Streak. After that, it's the indoor tt's starting in November and continuing through February. Good to have a break from the weekly grind at Cleves. If I do the last three I'll hit 300 lifetime time trials on that course dating back to 1997. Doesn't seem like more than 290, maybe 295   ;-)

Cleves September 8 2015

Slow evening for me. I was doing some experimenting with position. Nothing drastic, just removed a spacer in my bars and bumped my saddle up a little just to see how it feels. Not bad position but also a night with a very high mold count. I just couldn't breath well. A few miles in I was just unable to get caught up. Felt like I was working harder than the power I was generating would warrant. Really had nothing the second half. Also super hot, like 92. Hottest week of the summer. Held just under 340 for 23:21.

Cleves

338 watts at 96 rpms....rather lackluster performance....tired from the two it's on Sunday and from standing for 3 hours last night at the Van Halen concert