I'm ready to pull my hair out after spending the entire week on the trainer...not fun (especially since the CompuTrainer is down). A full training week, on the trainer, culminated with a 2 hour session yesterday - ahhhhh!

Maybe I can get on the road later this week (those days of highs in the mid-20s are starting to look good to go).

Training Funk...

I haven't posted in a while just because there hasn't really been much to say. I've been in sort of a training funk and between weeks of vacation (2+ weeks in CA and 4 days in Detroit for New Years), the Holidays, and bad weather, I just haven't been able to put together any decent prolonged training on the road. This is the most I've spent on the trainer in the off season in years. This week looks bad as we are getting the coldest temperatures in almost 2 years. I've seen predictions for lower lows than what's listed below.

To add insult to injury I went to hop on my CompuTrainer and apparently it is somehow broken. It doesn't give any resistance rendering it useless! Looks like I'll have to send it in and be without it for a while (it is 10 years old, so I guess I can't complain too much...just the worst week for it to happen!). I'll have to head to the bike shop to pick up another trainer to get me by (the trainer I use to warm up for races just doesn't cut it and I can't change the resistance on it either).

Trainer here I come...

That time of year when I'll be bitching about the weather a lot. Here's the current weather map fo the area...looks like a trainer day today! There are supposed to be a couple more winter storms hitting our area between now and Christmas...

PowerTap & Garmin 705

I upgraded my PowerTap hubs to be compatible with the Garmin 705. Now I have everything I ever needed and more at my fingertips! The best part is I can lose my PowerTap computer and only use the Garmin now...no more having 2 computers on my bike. I have way more information about any ride than I know what to do with!

Talk about a shift in weather. Monday we set record Highs (in the mid 60's) and sunny. Right now I'm looking outside at the snow covered lawns and houses and the temperature is in the low 30s. We are supposed to get storms on both Friday and Sunday. Looks like I'm going to become intimate friends with my trainer this week.

Vacation is Over!

I haven’t posted in a while; I was in SoCal for the past 2 weeks (LA down to San Diego). It was 16 days straight without being on the bike! It was a nice break, but the weather in San Diego really made me wish I was riding. I was happy to only have gained ~4 pounds.

Here are my statistics from the vacation;

Amusement Parks Visited (not much else to do with 5 ½ & 3 year olds)
- 4 days at Disney Land
- 2 days at Lego Land
- 2 days at Sea World
- 1 day at San Diego Zoo
- 1 day at San Diego Wild Life Park

Brew Pubs/Beer related;
- 2 days at the Pizza Port Strong Ale Festival (over 100 beers over 8% abv on tap!)
- 8 Brew Pubs
- 3 bottle shops (gotta keep the Hotel room stocked)
- 1 special beer release event at a Brewery attended
- Sampled/drank over 87 new beers (well, new to me anyway)

I got out on the bike yesterday for a couple hours and I felt every mile. Now I know how my cousin feels when he rides; fat and out of shape!

Is It January?

Our weather seems to think so. Below is picture of what I woke up to on Friday. Looks like a trainer day. Saturday was almost another trainer day. I say almost because it was in the mid-20s with winds between 25-35mph! That's a wind chill in the low teens. I had my bike on the trainer and walked up with my shorts and I said to myself, suck it up and get on outside. I tell you, that ride was cold as Hell and really had me saying to myself, 'so, I'm doing this because I enjoy it?'. Today's (Sunday's) weather seemed like a heat wave. It was in the low 30's for my 55mile ride. At least the winds died down and the sun was out.

Since my form is gone and its cold outside, maybe I should get out to Hawaii to beat up on my cousin...

Almost hit the pavement...

It was an interesting day today to say the least. I woke up and it was pouring rain. The forecast was for storms all day. Lucky for me, the weather broke at 11:30am and I decided to get out on the wet roads (especially since it was 70 degrees – tomorrow’s low is supposed to be in the low 30’s and highs of only 50). Half way into my ride, I approached a rail road crossing and thought I slowed down enough to get across without any problems. I was wrong. I almost (and I mean almost) went down. I unclipped both my feet landed on my top tube but managed to keep from going down. The closest to crashing since, well since I last crashed. I had trouble clipping in and below is a picture of why. I must have broken the cleat when I unclipped and stuck out both legs to keep my balance. I had to limp home without being able to fully use my left leg to pedal (which kinda sucked as there was more climbing getting back home).

Rain, Sick Again, and back on the Trainer

It has been an interesting last week and a half. Its either been raining or I've been sick. I found out last Wednesday that I have Strep Throat (which would explain that sore throat that's been lasting a while, those white spots and that little fever that affected my previous weekend's riding). I started antibiotics last Wednesday and finally am feeling better! I thought that last cold that lasted over 2 weeks would be it for a while - wishful thinking. At least I 'planned' getting sick at the best time; early in the off season. I did manage to get out on the road for 2.5hrs on Sunday.

I also had to ride on the trainer last week. In addition to being sick, it was raining all week. It's confirmed, I still really hate the trainer even if the training in more specific and allows me to stick to the day's workouts (started Muscle Tension intervals).

I Almost...

...sat on the trainer today! It was in the low 40's with wind gusts over 25mph and rain in the area. I brought my bike up and was about to put it on the CompuTrainer and said screw this and went outside. Thankfully I avoided the rain, but the cold and wind fully let me know that winter is on the way. Time to go out and buy some new warm riding gear.

Disclaimer: I do not own the above brand of trainer

Snow!!!!

I'm looking outside my window right now and I'm seeing snow flakes mixed in with the rain! Damn that sucks...

On the Road Again with Bigfoot...

I finally kicked that damn cold and got a good week or riding in! Sunday I had a normalized power of 230 for a 3-hour ride (yeah, I know, way too high for this time of year). It felt good the first week off the bike, and then the following week and a half I was really missing it! Now I have to get used to riding in the cooler weather. It was in the low 40s to start Sunday’s ride (today, the car read 33 degrees on the way to work). I had to turn my heat on in the house for the first time this season.

On Saturday, a bunch of us got together to do a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Vertical. Bigfoot is Barley Wine style beer (9.6% and made for aging!). We tasted 15 different vintages: 1990, 1994, 1995, and 1997-2008. It was very interesting to see how this beer aged over the time. The 1994 really stood out. There really wasn’t a bad year and I put the peak at about 6 years old. Did I mention, I was a little buzzed after drinking my set!

River Horse Honey Bunches of Ants

Even though I was sick, I headed over to the Kennett Square Brew Fest last weekend. I had the pleasure of trying on of the most unique beers I've had (at least ingredients wise). Here is the description;

• Leo introduced the rest of the River Horse staff to one of his hometown favorites, cooked black ants. Mama sends them from Mexico where they are only able to be collected for about 9 weeks a year during the rainy season. The black leaf eating ant is considered a delicacy, traditionally used as a wedding gift with the belief that they are an aphrodisiac. Their light woody flavor and rumored libido enhancing qualities are equally represented in this Burnt Sugar Ale for a less than conventional brew.

Yumm, beer with Black Ants. Now if only I can get a hold of the beer made with pooh coffee;

• Mikkeller has created a special edition of their flagship beer Beer Geek Breakfast for the Copenhagen Beer Festival every year. This version is a different recipe and it is brewed with the famous vietnamese coffee ca phe chon, that has travelled trough the intestinal system of a weasel.

Sick as a Dog...

This picture says it all! As soon as the season ended, I came down with a nasty cold that just doesn't want to let go. I thought I was getting better last weekend, but yesterday and today, I'm twice as bad off than last week! At least it is after the season, but I'm really itching to get back on the bike (coming on 2 weeks now).

PowerTap is now selling their upgrade to make their hubs compatible withe the Garmin 705! I just ordered one yesterday and can't wait to get it. They send you an updated (pictured above) that upgrades/updates the PowerTap. You are then requested to send the updater back for a 'special' gift (how about refunding some of the $100).

The Season is Officially Over for Me

The race season is officially over for me! What better way to end it than do a Time Trial (yep, I still suck at these). 21.7 miles and relatively flat. I finished 2nd in the Cat 3 field. I’ll give you a hint on how many people where in the Cat 3 field…I didn’t beat anyone. I had one of my worst times on the out leg. I heard some other racers say the air felt heavy for some reason. I know it was cold at the start. Driving to the TT, my car had 42 degrees! Last Sunday it was in the upper 80s and humid.

The race season by the numbers…

I competed in 48 races. I made the decision to only do races that I wanted to and those that fit my strengths better. With this in mind, thought I would do less than last year. I was surprised that last year I did 48 races as well. Gone are the days that I’ll do ~60 races in a year! Here is the number of races broken down by month;

March 4 races
April 5 races
May 9 races
June 7 races
July 11 races
August 8 races
September 4 races

I managed to get 16 top tens; my best year for top tens in a long time. I think the only other year I did better, was when I got over 25 top tens. This was the year that got enough points to upgrade to a Cat 2. I had my upgrade letter typed up, sealed, and ready to send (back in the old days you had to snail mail your upgrade request to the district rep). I was going to send in my request after I got back from Superweek. Right before I got back, Trish told me she was pregnant with Alex…goodbye Cat 2 dreams! Big difference from last year – I only had 5 top tens in the same number of races.

Time to rest and enjoy some longer easier rides. I know in about 2 weeks, I’ll be eagerly counting down the days until next year’s racing start!