2007 march
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, March 30- April 1
Super Sale!
I've been riding for about 45 minutes per day on the tt bike and surviving the Super Sale. I got my PowerTap SL set-up with a disc wheel
cover and it is fast. Good night

Thursday, March 29, 2007
Hill Sprints in the 53x15. Still just working on the jump. The legs are tired but I managed a nice hot last 30 minutes rolling back to
town...233 watts, 20.6mph, heart rate at 71%.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007
VO2 yahoo!
4 x 5:00 at 330-340 watts. These really are my favorite kind of efforts. Today we did them with complete recovery. As I progress into the
season the recovery will come down to 3-4 minutes.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007
ouch
Das Schoberer Rad Messtechnik came home yesterday, hopefully for an extended stay. I took it out for a little test drive today. Four hours
with the last hour in the sweet spot, though it felt more like the pain cave than the sweet spot today. Trust me, after three hours, holding
240 watts for an hour takes a ton of concentration and determination.
How about a quote? A man after my own heart:
"The precise communication of precise ideas requires precise use of precise terminology".
Andy Coggan

Monday, March 26, 2007
another day of rest
Got my eight hours in the trenches then off to hang with the Little D. That kid is hilarious. He's all about the sword fighting and sticks it to
me pretty good every damn time we face off. Good thing those are plastic swords. Then I spent some quality time getting the new pad
swinging. It's pretty swanky up here in this East Sac bungalow. The next three days are gonna be super hard training, a kind of crash
cycle before four days of commuting only to Super Sale.

Sunday, March 25, 2007
easy delta breezy
Two hours just riding along on the South River Road with Katie making sure all of her pieces and parts were working. That is one tough
chick. Kinda like Crazy Mary but not so crazy hee hee. Then it was off to work to play big boss man as all of the heads found reasons not
to work. No worries, it's like gravy.

Saturday, March 24, 2007
mayhem
Things are getting kooky on the RiverRide. There were a couple of crashes including Katie Bella getting pushed out into the gravel and
washing out. Nothing serious, some road rash, a black eye, broken bike parts and a cracked helmet. I was at the front and missed it or I
would have avoided getting my front wheel clipped by a sideways moving SGW. I stayed upright thanks to my recent Kung Fu studies and
only suffered a broken spoke. Oh well, such is life. It's good to know I can rid 'em cowboy when needed.

Friday, March 23, 2007
day o rest
My obsession to win is fueling my compulsion to train smart. I have, almost to the letter, followed my coach's training plan to the best of
my ability. The biggest improvements so far are my aerobic capacity, leg strength and recovery. I signed up for the Davis Double the third
week of May. So we have Copperopolis, Madera, Berkeley Hills, Golden State Crit, and the Davis Double. Then we turn our gaze toward
the track season, Masters District Road Race and the Cal Cup and then comes the Fall ultra season and some serious mountain biking.
We are thinking about the Triple Crown Stage Race and a 100 mile MTB race in 2008 in addition to road and track Nationals. Should be
an interesting 18 months.

Thursday, March 22, 2007
rollin'
Things are really starting to shape up. I was rolling at 22 mph pushing 260 watts for 45 minutes and my heart rate was only at 75%. I'm
getting close to my goal of rolling tempo at 23 mph and this is really really really good considering most of the road races I do average
about 24 mph. The trick is managing the hard accelerations and suffering up the climbs. We scheduled my first VO2 workout for next
week and I'm looking forward to it. That is my favorite brand of pain.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
sinnin' easy
90 minutes on the trail in the wind in and easy gear with an average of 164 watts. The legs feel great and the morale is good. I'm looking
forward to really racing, everything to now has just been testing and preparation. Time to let it rip.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
endurance and rain
Three hours up to Beale and back at a solid endurance pace (225 watts and an average heart rate of 72% of max, not too shabby). Got
caught in the rain at the end but it wasn't too cold and I was feeling good so no worries. I'm starting to get settled into my new place and
am excited about the future.

Monday, March 19, 2007
day of rest, week of rest
This week is going to be easy with about ten hours of just riding along plus the RiverRide on Saturday. The legs feel great and I'm
dealing with the life changes pretty well. I'm looking forward to Copperopolis in three weeks, it should be a fun test with three more
weeks until Madera.

Sunday, March 18, 2007
Zamora Road Race
Two Hours at 280 watts with the last half hour at 317. Yeah yeah, I cracked 3K from the end. So what? I was able to ride at the front and
control the race for a long stretch and when it became obvious that I was going to pull the whole group across the gap I attacked and got
free, but unfortunately the only guy with the balls to go with me was the teammate of one of the guys up the road. He did a good job of
shutting me down. I rode smart, I rode hard, and rode like a man and that is what I needed to do today. The only thing left to finish is a
devastating jump followed by an all out six minute 400 watts effort and I'll be ready to dominate.

Saturday, March 17, 2007
Land Park Criterium
I was active early trying to get in a break. When it became obvious that nothing would stick, I tailgunned it until the end waiting to pounce,
but they kept ringing the prime bell in the final laps so I never got my chance to slingshot off the front. Criterium racing is such a crap
shoot that I'm happy I got some speed work and kept the rubber side down. Tomorrow is the Zamora Road Race and my goal is to not
make any tactical mistakes and finish strong. Tomorrow will conclude the second or third hardest training week of the year so I'm happy
with how things are progressing with six weeks to go, especially with the stress and chaos in my life right now.

Friday, March 16, 2007
openers
One minute fast pedaling at 130 rpm in the granny gear, 3x90 seconds anaerobic capacity with a jump at the end, and three minutes at
threshold. The legs feel great and the morale is good. This weekend is the first real test of where I'm at with six weeks to go until Madera.
I'll attack at the crit again, this time with a couple of laps to go, unless I get in a break. Sunday I'm gonna sit in and try to do as much
damage to the field as I can on the "hill" section in the last two laps, unless it's windy and then I'll try to cause a break.

Thursday, March 15, 2007
sprint work
Tonight's workout was pretty mediocre, but sometimes work is just that...work. I went up to Sunrise to do some sprints. It's an odd
sensation not having the extra weight to drop onto the pedals. There will need to be some adjustments made to gear choices sprinting
uphills and into headwinds, but I'll take the trade. I'm sure there are plenty of heavy riders out there singing "Cry Me a River" so I want to
be clear, this is just on observation, not a complaint. And I still have plenty left to lose. I haven't been restricting calories, just eating well
and riding a lot. After four years of racing my body is finally making the change.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007
sfr and the new pad
Well, well, well. Just put it out there and back it comes. I found a rad little studio with everything but the claw foot tub. I'll live. I move in
Monday. Today it was up to Newcastle for big gear hill repeats. I'm really starting to feel powerful. I did a recovery ride this evening and
cracked off a sprint just to see where I'm at and wouldn't you know I cracked off 1300 watts and accelerated from 20 to 34 in about six
seconds. Now the fun begins. Time for serious sprint work and VO2 max intervals. Woohoo! Now I gotta get to the business of picking up
five more clients and we can really get to throwing down some mad science.
Ciao, for now.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
mas tempo
Three and a half hours with 45 minutes in the sweet spot. I squeezed an extra ten watts and 0.6 mph out compared to Sunday's session.
The weather is unbelievable. Midtown is full of those sweet and sticky smells of Spring and the evenings are still and clear. I've been
cruising my fix around at night looking for the perfect apartment. I'm thinking on an upstairs studio or one bedroom with high ceilings, lots
of light, and a gas stove. A claw foot tub would be the icing on the cake.

Monday, March 12, 2007
mung beans and brown basmati
Kickin' it at the K-three-nine learning about cleansing food, Sun Ra, Kung Fu and many things metaphysical. Today was a rest day but of
course I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get all of my ducks in a row. I will be turning up the heat on my search for
an apartment tomorrow, after riding four hours and before hangin' with the Little Man.

Sunday, March 11, 2007
tempo, tempo, tempo
Three hours of tempo was on the menu for today so it was off to the Delta for some quality time in the wind. The final hour was to be at
the top end of my tempo zone or what we like to call the sweet spot. This sweet spot is different from the sweet spot on the time trial bike.
The tt-sweet spot is about bike fit as where the tempo sweet spot is the grey area between hard tempo and functional threshold power.
When it comes at the end of a three hour ride it is a bitch. The demand for full concentration is critical to the success of this effort. If the
mind is allowed to wander you are guaranteed to slip back into the tempo zone. So the workout ended in Clarksburg where I sat on the
steps of the town market and had a Nutt Sundae and some Gatorchicken. Then it was a leisurely hour or so back to reality. Right now I'm
doing laundry in a laundromat for the first time in like 15 years. Ah, living on the run. Not to worry, the city will provide.

Saturday, March 10, 2007
TriFlow
Raced the 35+3/4. Tailgunned it until ten to go. Moved up through the middle of the pack no problem. Blasted off the front with five to go
and held it for two laps. Some unknown bridged and I made the mistake of waiting. He got on my wheel and didn't do shit. I asked if he
came across to shut me down and he started cussing at me so I sat up. This was my one mistake. When you go, you go 100% until you
win or blow to bits. I'll have another whack at it at Land Park next Saturday.

Friday, March 09, 2007
day off
Shipped the bitch back to Colorado and hooked up the old PowerTap for the race at Menlo Park tomorrow. It's on, no more canceling
races. Seven weeks to Madera. The weight dropped below 170 this morning, this is a good thing. Twelve pounds since the holidays.

Thursday, March 08, 2007
a hard day
Big life changes happening around here. Not sure how focused I'll be on this run in to Madera but I gotta give it my best shot. Today I did
two hours of just spinning along the bike trail and guess what? the SRM is acting up again. I guess I'll be switching over to the PowerTap
until I get this straightened out. What a drag, it cost me $160 to send the SRM to Colorado and it worked for a week. Bah!

Wednesday, March 07, 2007
knackered
Okay, I'm happy the build period is over and I'm fighting like hell to get well and be fresh for the Menlo Park Crit on Saturday. Even though I
work in a supportive environment it's still hard to balance the physical stress of work, training, and proper rest. I am pretty good at living
on the edge, but I think we found my cracking point, not to be crossed again this season, though next time around I won't have the cold
and flu bugs to contend with. Yes I am very fragile at this point in the game. It's totally on for the Davis Double Century, which comes three
weeks after Madera, that will be a fun three weeks since I'll be ready for some huge and easy mileage by then!!! And then we'll focus on
the track season and of course Masters Districts at the end of July. Rock on.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007
change of pace
Today was a very enjoyable workout. I started at the Coffee Republic and took the back roads up to Newcastle for some big gear hill
repeats on Indian Hill. The weather was beautiful. Two and a half hours, 211 watts, pure quality time with the added bonus of Primus on
the iPod. When I get back to ultra racing I'll do this ride from home. Tomorrow is another day off. A chance to do some much needed bike
maintenance

Monday, March 05, 2007
rest day, rest week
Today was a day of rest, the first of three this week. I felt pretty tore up today and am looking forward to an easy week. It looks like the
weather is going to hold up for some good spring mileage. Things are ramping up at the bike shop and of course we aren't fully staffed
for summer even though I've been preaching to management for two months that the shit is going to hit the fan next week when we
change to daylight savings time and to really kick it up a notch the weather is turning to late spring form. Yeehaw, here we go. Good thing
I get paid grunt wage and know how to fly under the radar.