January

I thought it'd be fun to do a recap of my month of riding in January. I did just as many rides this month as I did last month, give or take two rides. Surprisingly I rode over 800 miles this month and 500 miles last month. Maybe it was due to the holidays and that I was traveling a lot more, but this is nearly double the amount. My average distance also went up from 20 miles per ride to 30 miles. I logged in 50 hours vs. 36 hours, granted I was doing more short power intervals compared to longer steady state intervals. But what really impressed me this month is the amount of climbing I achieved; 30,258 ft in January and only 6,562 ft in December. Again, I think it's because I spent more time on the trainer than on the road. My average speed is up from 14.7 mph to 16.1 mph, which is really good.

I think it's still too early to tell if I'm getting faster or not. I definitely feel stronger. The weather has been a major factor despite being able to train indoors. Regardless, I eagerly await my first cross-country race(s) in April.

Breakfast of Champions

 

I used to skip breakfast all the time, but now I can't function without it, especially now that I'm a morning person. It's even more important before a hard workout or long ride. I'm a simple cook, and every morning I have either oatmeal or granola. This morning I poached a perfect egg on whole wheat toast, along with some orange juice, oatmeal and coffee. I'll add a banana on top which will tip the calorie count over 400. Cycling has really opened my eyes to better nutrition and overall habits.

Power to the People

So lately I've been curious about power meters. I understand their advantages over other methods of tracking efforts and training, but most of the options available are way too expensive, costing anywhere from $600 to $3,000. There are crank based meters, pedal meters, hub, and even heart rate based power meters. They're such an investment I want to make the best informed decision possible.

Garmin is coming out with their Vector pedal based power meter this march, but that would require me to buy another set of road specific shoes. Quarq and SRM make crank arm solutions, but they're expensive and would take away the classic and understated look of my bike. CycleOps offers hubs that seem fairly reasonable with the least amount of set up, granted that I know how to build wheels.

Is it too much to go through all the trouble of having to build a new rear wheel, and probably upgrading my Garmin watch to a computer? Well, I'm beginning to understand my limiters in cycling, and heart rate based training can only take you so far. In observing efforts through wattage there's nothing more absolute and accurate. Ultimately, I think I could train better with a power meter.

In the meantime I'll be researching different setups and components, their advantages and disadvantages. If you have previous experience with any of the above mentioned systems I'd love to get your feedback.

CycleOps Trainer

I picked up this CycleOps fluid trainer in late November. It took me a while to get used to riding indoors. The technique is so different that takes some time getting used to it. There are so many advantages to indoor training that make up for its awkwardness; controlled intervals, shorter workouts, less wear on your bike. However, it's not without its faults, chiefly staring at a wall for two hours, yet somehow I think even that's essential for endurance racing; mental endurance.

One of the major issues with training indoors is staying cool. It's easy to overheat since you're not fighting the wind anymore, which naturally moderates your body temperature. I have a huge fan at full blast pointed at me for this reason. Because you sweat more I often wear a sweat-band and have a towel draped over the handlebars/top tube of my bike.

Resistance is also different in that you no longer have gravity to fight against. As a result, workouts seem way harder since you're no longer coasting and pedaling to maintain speed the same way. You have to pedal constantly, which is great for developing pedaling technique.

I've also noticed that it's harder to maintain and reach certain heart rate zones without feeling completely obliterated. I'm not sure why this happens, but maybe it's because the amount of resistance is refocused to leg work since your body doesn't have to work as hard to keep up. This actually got better as I continued to use the trainer in my workouts.

The yellow tab is the resistance adjuster. It modulates how much pressure the roller has against the tire. I had mine set up with too much pressure/resistance. I eventually dialed it back so that the easiest gear on my bike was easy, maintaining constant pressure without spinning out.

Compared to a wind and magnetic trainer it provides more natural feeling resistance without the noise. I was curious about rollers, but needed to find something that was portable. This model folds up and packs away easily into our closet.

A wooden planter's box does the job of making the setup level and secure. A few books or a phone book can do the trick, too. CycleOps sells a wheel stabilizer/lifter, but I don't think it's that necessary.

Attaching the bike is quick and easy once you set up spacing correctly. There's a quick release lever on the opposite side that's designed to stay secure even if you're standing up and mashing on the pedals. The entire unit feels solidly built and has the weight to prove it.

Now, towards the latter half of December, I feel pretty comfortable in putting in miles when the weather turns for the worse. No more excuses.

Wake Up Call

I got up at seven o'clock this morning, and I'm running an hour late. Not to work, however, but for my morning ride. It's officially winter, and has been for some time, but it's been unusually warm the past month in New York, until recently. Traveling a lot for work and the time difference doesn't help either, not to mention that it gets dark so early. I'm fighting the constant urge to hibernate.

I enjoy riding in the morning because it's such a great way to start the day. I feel energized. I recently read this New York Times article about how exercise increases brain activity. I believe it. But the road to getting up early has been long and slow.

Just a couple of years ago I'd usually get up around 10am. I'd usually stay up till 2am either working or not really doing anything important. I was a night owl, and my internal clock was set. My wife is a morning person, and I always admired that. It's incredible how much she does and gets done before she heads out for work. Inspired by her routine I decided to do the same. It's nothing like this dumb 5-hour ENERGY commercial. Who drinks that stuff, anyways?

Getting up at a reasonable hour wasn't easy for me. I read somewhere that it takes 90 days or so of consistency for anything to solidify as a routine. I started getting up early five or so months ago, usually around 7am, but sometimes even earlier. That golden hour in the morning is especially great when you're on a bike with no one around, the distant hum of the city starting it's day, just before everyone starts honking their morning rush hour horns. Maybe I need one of these.

Training is just as much about proper rest as it is a good workout. I used to think good riders and pros just rode a bazillion miles as hard as they could all year-long. Well, that's definitely not entirely true. My trainer puts a heavy emphasis on getting enough rest between each workout. Work hard, rest hard. The more I ride the more sleep I need. I even started taking naps in the afternoon, but maybe it's because I'm always jet lagged from all the traveling I've been doing for work. It took me at least four days to recover. Despite that, my bedtime has slowly crept closer and closer to 11pm.

Introducing cycling back into my life has really changed it for the better. Having to get up early to make time for something I really enjoy benefits the rest of my day. I'm more aware of my time working as well as the time needed to disconnect from it.

Fuel for Thought

Eating right in cycling is really important, more so if you're in training, and crucial for racing. It's remained a mystery to me, but then again I never looked at it closely till now. Long story short, I'm definitely not eating enough, evident in the past when I'd bonk, a term to describe when you've completely run out of fuel, and suffering because of it. Nothing's worse than running on empty with 10 miles to go. I've learned my lesson and remain hyper-aware of how much I eat before and during a ride, more so now that I've increased my hours on the bike. Now I don't go anywhere without having had a proper breakfast of either granola or oatmeal with bananas and a little coffee. Before I'd skip it completely and pay the consequences.

I started counting calories, and it's interesting to learn how much is in everything you eat, how certain foods have more than others, and which things are just plain bad for you. To keep track of calories I'm using an iPhone app called MyFitnessPal, which is pretty good so far. It has a barcode scanner that automatically finds the product and it's calorie count, however for home made meals it's a bit more difficult since you have to break it down per ingredient. On average I expend between 4000-5000 calories, depending on the ride, which is more than twice on any given day I don't work out.

The problem I'm running into now is that I find it hard to build an appetite. Despite eating at least five or more meals a day I'm still coming up short. The other issue I'm figuring out is finding the best things to eat that take little to no time to prepare, as I'm usually consumed with work during the day. I've often wondered about protein powders and weight gaining formulas, but that stuff really freaks me out. I'd rather do it naturally and with simple foods. It's tricky because I want to stay relatively light weight and gain strength at the same time. I recently purchased this cook book by Dr. Allen Lim and chef Biju Thomas called The Feedzone Cookbook. I haven't made anything from it yet since I've been traveling so much lately, but it looks promising.

The month ahead looks to be brutal. Not only is the weather beginning to get colder I start power intervals for the first time. These are basically sets of all-out sprints for a couple of minutes at a time over 20 minutes. This means I really have to have my daily nutrition under control if I'm to survive this training block. Luckily I love to eat and live in a great city for it.

I ♥ Mountains

I'm now in Chicago for work this week. Luckily there are better machines for training at the hotel I'm staying at, but do I ever miss riding on a real bike. Every time I visit Chicago I can never get over the fact that most of the Midwest doesn't have mountain ranges like the West/East Coast does. It's so flat. Too flat. I do like elevation gain and sweeping views of valleys and trees below. How do people ride out here? Well, that's easy considering there aren't any hills, but I guess I should ask how do people train out here?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Pictured above is Mount St. Helens after it erupted in 1980, which was the year I was born. I've been mountain biking on the Plains of Abraham, the blast zone, which is an incredible ride. It's like riding on the surface of the moon with it's pumice single track and barren landscape. The outlying trees are all blackened from the blast and swept to the side as if mother nature took a comb and parted the south face of the mountainside. It's so epic and easily seen for miles.

Living in New York you have a fair share of mid-size mountains, but nothing like out west. I took it for granted, and completely miss it. The biggest peak I've ridden so far was an out and back ride to Bear Mountain north of New York City along the Hudson River, with a total round trip of 120 miles. The most I have ever ridden on road. With a name like Bear Mountain you'd expect it to be a 'bear' of a peak to conquer, but it really didn't take me long to get to the summit. The other peak I've done is Blue Mountain, just on the other side of the Hudson River, but that's all mountain biking. I know I've only seen a fraction of what New York has to offer, but I do miss living in a city with real mountains nearby.

As I settle further into my training schedule I often get concerned that I'm not attacking climbs like I ought to. It's hard when you don't have mountains as easily accessible as you would in the Northwest. I remember my rides in Portland and Seattle as a constant hill climb. I'd ride down a massive hill to school, then back up; back down the other side to work, and all the way back up. It was never easy, but I prided on my ability to get anywhere in Seattle in 15 minutes or less.

My trainer tells me the lack of climbing isn't an issue in the sense that regardless of hills or not, it's about training your body's energy system to accommodate stress levels for long periods of time, resulting in doing a lot of intense interval training. I'm about to launch into my second block of training which is supposed to be really demanding with the intervals becoming shorter and more intense, and it's only december! Regardless, I'm looking forward to the change of pace and hopefully some good results.

See you at the top.

Training Away From Home

So I'm in LA for work, which is great because I always love sunshine, but it sucks because I don't have a bike to ride other than what's at the hotel. Unfortunately for me it's a seated stationary bike. It's in a standard hotel gym, equipped with TV sets attached. I've never been a gym person, and probably will never be, but the only alternative I have to training is running, something I'm still getting used to.

What am I training for you ask? Well, in general it's the 2012 mountain bike racing season, but the race I'm aiming for is the infamous Leadville 100 in Leadville, CO, part of the Leadville 100 Race Series. It's probably one of the toughest single day endurance races in the world. It's 100 miles of cross-country trails and fire roads at 10,152 ft elevation with roughly 14,000 ft of total climbing. Lance won it, and so did Leipheimer, both Tour de France stage racers, but I'm not Lance, or Levi, or anyone near thier caliber of cycling. I am, however, determined to do it under 8 hours (the pros can do it in 7 hours or less).

Not too long ago I entered a lottery for a package deal for discounted online coaching with Carmichael Training Systems, as well as guaranteed entry to the Leadville 100. Normally you'd have to qualify by finishing in the high percentile of your respective class of an official Leadville qualifying race. Chris Carmichael was Lance Armstrong's coach for many years, and has pioneered a unique method for training all levels of endurance athletes. I'm about a month into the program and it's tough to say the least. Luckily I have a pretty decent cycling base to work from as well as a dedicated coach who helps me plan my workouts, day by day.

So as I spin in place and stare out the window I keep in mind that it'll pay off come this August.