Race Report: Breckenridge 68

EXPERTS ONLY!!! This race was tough! Not only was it a mean amount of climbing, a lot of the climbing was done on steep, loose, rocky sections. The descents were just crazy. Seriously, they'd be dicey on a nine inch travel downhill bike let alone a hardtail carbon XC bike. Super steep, big rocks, roots, and loose. The race had four huge climbs,and each one was a swift kick to the groin. The 'easiest' climb was the last one on a dirt rode which started at 9,917 and went up past the tree line at 11,438. To makes things worse, it rained at the end of my first loop (two big 34 mile loops in the race) so the second loop was a little moist in spots. There wasn't a lot of smiling coming from me during this race. It was a grunt fest the whole time. Despite being over my race weight and being half asleep, I somehow pulled out a 4th place. Almost 3rd by 1:31. On the last climb I passed the guy at the base, but he caught me near the end. I tried to up it a notch, but he pulled away more. Guess that's what I get for being a fatty. Still, with a 4th place finish I guess you can call that a good day of racing, but I certainly wouldn't call it a fun day in the saddle like my other races have been. And to top off my day of suffering, I hit Sunday afternoon traffic on the way home so my hour and half drive turned into a three hour drive in traffic with sore legs and a stick shift. Now if you excuse me, I have some Ibuprofen calling my name.

Race Report: Firecracker 50

The Firecracker 50 has been one of my favorite races of the year since I began endurance racing, but since I have the Breckenridge 68 a week and half later which is more of a priority, I decided to not do the whole 50.  Instead, I decided to do the race as a duo with my good friend Don.  Don is more of the casual rider, and this was actually his first mountain bike race (which I didn't know until after the race; awesome first though!).  My only goal was to pound out the fastest lap I could to give Don ample time to complete his lap before cut off.  That is exactly what I did, but not without some complications.  The first complication was that I had forgotten my saddle bag which had my CO2 inflator so instead I stuffed Don's frame pump in my jersey pocket.  Complication number two happened during a downhill section were there was a slower rider in front of me who I attempted to make a quick move to get around, but instead took a spill which caused the frame pump to fall out.  I have never raced this race without getting a flat, which brings us to complication three.  I was riding along on some sweet singletrack when I heard a loud noise coming from rear tire.  The culprit making the noise was a decent sized nail in my tire... that's right, a freakin' nail in the middle of the forest.  Why was there a nail in the middle of the forest you may ask?  Well, because several of the trails are on old mining trails and this one in particular had a old metal mining shoot running along side the trail.  And to our last complication, it had been awhile since I had put some sealant in my tire so a tube was needed.  Without a pump my only option was to run until I found someone in the race crew because no one was going to stop to help out.  Luckily it wasn't too far off before I did find someone, but it still cost me 10-15 minutes.  I completed the lap around 2:15:00 which considering my difficulties was pretty good.  Don was up, so I figured I'd keep him company for awhile since the first six miles is up a dirt road.  Once we hit the singletrack, I figured I had already climbed so I might as well reward myself... then Don wanted me to help support him on the second and only other big climb... might as well reward myself some more... just did the only other big climb anyway... so much for only doing half the race!  Yep, I ended up doing the whole fifty!  For the sake of proper recovery, probably not the best idea.  For the sake of having a blast riding at a casual pace with a good friend, fantastic idea!  I wasn't going race pace for the second lap so I'm just going to consider it a long cool down.  Besides, it was fun seeing Don really tearing up the downhills.  On one really rocky dirt road downhill section that had singletrack going through it, Don chose the rock garden to blaze around a line of racers with a slow person leading the pack.  I was absolutely stunned... and then I shifted in my third ring and followed suit.  Good times!  Our official time was 5:29:06.2 and were 61st out of 85.  Not too bad at all for the guy that found one of the only nails out there and the first timer.  You couldn't rip the smile off my face after that race.  We both had an absolute blast!  Even enjoyed a good brew or two afterwards.  HFDB!

Chasing down my friend Don

Midwest Mountain Bike Fest

This is how my past Friday went: 8%, 4%, 4%, 12%... no, I'm not talking about the grade of the hills I was climbing, I'm talking about the ABV I was consuming on my day off during the Midwest Mountain Bike Fest held in Davenport, IA. I had gotten in on Thursday night to start my camping trip out at Scott County Park in Long Grove, IA where the Midwest Mountain Bike Fest was held this year hosted by my favorite club, FORC. Friday started with a fast loop at Scott County with my buddy Paul. After Scott County, it was off to Sunderbruch Park in Davenport, IA with some guys visiting from Michigan. That's where the ABVs started, and then continued at lunch at the Filling Station with some tasty wings. Once back at Scott County, the Michigan guys gave me an awesome 12% beer before embarking on the night ride. So, here I was on Friday night with a group of other mountain bikers preparing to start a night ride. I had no lights, and probably couldn't even walk a straight line. Now the no lights thing I've learned to master before. You simply just have a good friend in front with lights and another in back with lights, and just really trust the guy in front you to have a good line. Everyone I followed had a great line, but the last key to this riding format is being able to hold a line yourself. When I started riding I could see my front tire going everywhere on the trail but straight. The result was me crashing... a lot! After the hundredth crash, I finally forced myself to concentrate enough to make it back to the campsite without impaling myself onto a tree first. As a high level mountain bike racer in Colorado, I wasn't too proud to have fallen as much as I did... but did I mention 12% ABV! Oh well, at least I didn't hurt myself too badly other than a badly bruised right thigh and a bent brake lever on my friend's bike that I will be replacing for him. Saturday was more crash free as I opted to skip the night ride. There was a big beer potluck and grill out to occupy my time anyway. Great riding, great beer, and great friends! The Midwest Mountain Bike Fest was a huge success! Thanks to all my old and new friends for tolerating me for the weekend... now excuse me while I ice my bruised thigh and try to restore my dignity I lost on Friday night's ride.

Bailey Hundo: Race Report

Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. Bailey was freezing cold, as predicted. Arm and knee warmers in the middle of June... brrrr!  The shot gun (that's right, the race is started by a shot gun... gotta love Colorado!) went off promptly at 6 a.m. and we were off!  The first couple of miles were all dirt road climbs which made it nice to thin out everyone before hitting the singletrack. The course was designed very well in the fact that most of the climbing for the first half of the race was on doubletrack, and the rest was on some truly sweet singletrack!  I decided early on to back off from race pace so I wouldn't burn myself out too early. I'm glad I did because there was some really breath-taking views to be enjoyed, and some amazing trail to be ridden. By the end of 60 miles of twisty singletrack and descending, my index fingers were sore from all the braking (yeah, I do that 'braking' thing from time to time), and my triceps were burning. I've never been happier to ride my mountain bike on asphalt. After a 'break' on a good stretch of asphalt, we hit a looonnnngggg dirt road climb back to the top of the  mountain. You may think to yourself, "Dirt road? sounds easy!", but this was not the case. The road was steep, full of loose rock, and really choppy (kinda like the speed strips on the side of the interstate that when you hit them make your whole car vibrate in order to wake up swerving motorists who fall asleep at the wheel... except bigger). My legs were just screaming at this point. Once again, really glad I backed off during the first half of the race. The whole climb my legs were on the verge of cramping, but miraculously I never hit that point. After the first stage of the climb, we hit a false summit and got a break with some fast dirt road descending. In this race, there are two big water crosses. The first water crossing is the worst of the two and made the second one just a good way to rinse off the muck from the first. During the first, I was riding with a guy that I had been chatting with since the asphalt road. He warned me to stay left and just plow through it. Glad I did because about three-fourths through the crossing it was deep!  Seriously, it was up to my top tube. Oh, and did I mention the water was brown from all the cow pies dropped in it?  Yum!  Cow poo water!  Now somewhere between the last big climb and the last few miles my legs suddenly came back to life. This was probably because an afternoon thunderstorm was brewing above head and my legs didn't want to be out there any more than I did. On the last summit where the last aid station was, the storm finally let loose and it started hailing. I stopped under the aid station E-Z Up and threw on my rain jacket for last bit of the race which was muddy dirt road descents and short climbs that I was able to stand on to really plow through to the end. Hail turned to rain as I descended to lower elevation. Visibility was pretty low since my glasses were caked with mud and thus became a splash guard sitting at the bottom of my nose so I could see between the top frame of the glasses and my helmet. I really had to get on the brakes early to wipe off the water and mud before they even were semi-functional. I have to say, even with the terrible conditions I was smiling like a mad man flying down these steep dirt roads. I made one last standing climb to a short doubletrack section that desceded to the finish. Sprinting to the end, I crossed the finish line at 7:56:45.08. My goal was to do it in eight hours so I was pretty happy with the results. First thing I did was to make a stop at the beer tent for some delicious micro-brew. Not sure what it was, but it a fruity summer beer of some sort and it tasted absolutely amazing!  Have to say, best race I've done so far. What an awesome race!

So clean... that didn't last!

The only way I could see for the last few miles!

Bailey Hundo: Big Day in the Cold and Rain

Well, it's finally here. The start of the Bailey Hundo is less than 24 hours away. Tonight I'll drive into Bailey and set up camp. Race start is at 6:00am. Weather is calling for 30% chance of Isolated T-Storms this afternoon until 10pm. In other words, 30% chance for camping in rain and lighting. Temperature at race start is 45 and will get up to 69 by the last 2-3 hours. Once again chance for Isolated T-Storms starting at 11am. Yep, it's going to be a long, cold, and potentially rainy day. Going to have to carry a lot of clothing for this 8+ hours ride. I'm a little nervous, but not as nervous I was on Monday. Now that I've checked off everything on my 'what to bring' list and looked over it a hundred times I'm a little more at ease. All that's left is to drive down, set up camp, and attempt to get a halfway decent nights sleep until I wake up at 4:30am in the dark and cold. What can I say, this is what I raised $500 to do, and I love it! The second the gun goes off I'm going to be in mountain biking bliss. There are some really good trails to be ridden tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that donated so I could do this race! Don't know how well I'll do, but failure is not a option! Game on!

Yeah, I'm One of Those Guys

Having some Midwestern mountain bike friends visiting this week really made me think, “Gasp! Should I ride with baggies or not!? What are they going to think about my shaved legs!?”. 


When I started mountain biking in the Midwest, it was always considered taboo to ride in just bike shorts and would most certainly result in ridicule. When I came out to Colorado, that same mind set lasted about a year for me until I really started to put in a lot of road miles where riding with bike shorts without baggies is not only accepted, you kind of look like the black sheep if you're seen road biking with baggies. Not too long after I started riding non-baggy during my off-road efforts as well. It may seem trivial, but when you ride as much as I do having one less layer to deal with makes a huge difference. Not only is it more comfortable, it's one less item you have to wash. Plus, you don't have to worry about the occasional catching of the baggies on the saddle case scenario. This isn't to say I've completely shunned baggies altogether. My rule is that if I'm on the road or on the hardtail race rig really pushing the pace I'm in bike shorts. If I'm on the full suspension and taking it easy I'm in baggies: more all-mountain style. And of course, when in a group ride I always follow the dress code that everyone else is wearing.

Now that I've explained the baggy or not topic, on to why I shave my legs. Now it's not like I bought a bike and bunch of gear and instantly started shaving my legs the day I began biking. It wasn't until mountain biking for six years and my second year of endurance racing in Colorado before I started shaving. It all started when I decided to 'trim' my leg hair two days before the Firecracker 50. The day before the race I went for short ride to warm up the legs with a friend who insured me that my 'trimmed' legs looked terrible and shaving them would actually be an improvement. I went to the store, bought a razor, and the shaving of the legs began. At first I was shy about my newly smooth legs, but I quickly came to the realization that I deserved to shave my legs. That's right, I DESERVE TO! Each year I put in thousands of miles and hours training. Each vein and muscle that protrudes through my skin is a medal of honor to me, and damn it I'm going to show them! Besides, if I want sponsors to take me as a serious endurance mountain bike racer I better look the part. If you look at the rest of the top finishers you'll be hard pressed to see hairy legs standing on the podium. Nuff said!

Warning: Graphic

For all of you who want to see the carnage, here's some pics of the accident.  My left arm took the bulk of the impact.  Before and After pics of the 63 stitches:
Before Pic
After Pic

The Breaking Point

Since January I have been training and dieting like a mad man. My world has revolved around power to weight ratio and every gram of food has been counted. As I lost the weight, I also was slowly losing my sanity. I was always hungry and therefore always irritable. I even gave up my beloved beer... that's right, I live in a state with the best beers you can find and I was too scared of the extra calories to indulge. This made me pretty unbearable to be around. Something had to break for me to regain my sanity, and that my friends came in the form of the back window of Nissan Xterra. Let me explain. On Thursday, May 29, I was in the midst of a tempo training session best done on the road. The route I take for this training session is on roads with the least amount of traffic... except for one intersection that connects the route. I was heading north on this intersection which is a two lane road with traffic merging from highway 58. It was around 5:40pm so it was rush hour, and there was a car merging into my lane. To make sure that I was not in the blind spot of the car merging, I sped up and looked at the driver until he made eye connect so I knew he saw me. As soon as we made eye connect I looked forward... traffic had come to a complete halt. I didn't even have time to feather my brakes. I ran into the back of a the massive yellow SUV going about 20 mph and flew through the rear window. I had done a half twist and was laying in the trunk staring at the ceiling with my right leg hanging out what was the window. The glass was everywhere, and so was my blood. The majority of the impact was take(n) by my left arm. An ambulance came and gave me a pricey ride to the hospital. I ended up getting about 63 stitches on my left arm, and about 5 on a deep cut on my left leg. Luckily nothing was broken. There I was, lying on a bed in the hospital and all I could think about was how I was not able to complete my training session.  I could have been killed and I was worried about not completing a training session. That's when I knew I'd lost my mind.  My club in the Midwest, FORC, has a saying, "Have Fun, Drink Beer". Somewhere in midst of all the training, dieting , and obsession of competing I lost focus of the fact that this is suppose to be fun.  Instead of training I spent the weekend drinking some beer and having fun.  On Monday I decided to do the six hour ride I had planned on doing on Saturday in order to train for a one hundred mile charity race I have in a few weeks.  It ended up taking six and a half hours instead.  Although ever bump mind me grit my teeth, I had a blast.  For now on I'm going to drink a little more beer and make sure I'm having fun even in the midst of training.  HFDB!

Bloody, but still smiling!

The long ride only four days after accident... just follow the blood trail to trace the route!

Race Report: Battle the Bear

It was cold and lightly raining when I woke up early Saturday morning. (I was) Not exactly thrilled to embark on a race in such conditions (and) I was slow to get ready. I left ten minutes later than I had intended and had to cut my warm-up short. I arrived at the start line with only two minutes to spare before the start. Within seconds to the start we all heard thunder...(change... to ;) not what you want to hear starting a sixty mile race. It was about five minutes within the race when all of a sudden it started to downpour. In seconds the singletrack turned to peanut butter. The first climb my rear tire was spinning out, and by the second climb it turned into (a)cyclocross (race) because we all had to run our bikes up the hill. After a season of cyclocross the adverse conditions really didn't bother me too much and I intended to use it to my advantage. My legs were feeling pretty good and I was cutting through the racers ahead of me fairly easily. And then it all came to an abrupt end. About halfway through the lap the ranger was waiting on a road cross letting everyone know the race was canceled(cancelled). Bikes and racers were caked in mud, and everyone was freezing cold. Hours of bike maintenance and laundry for maybe thirty minutes of racing... yep, sounds like cyclocross to me! Oh well, it was for the best. The damage we did to the trails in a few minutes was already too much. The Battle of the Bear will have to wait until August when it will be rescheduled. I went home, took the hottest bath I could, grabbed a beer, and proceeded to cleaning my bike and clothing. With the race canceled (cancelled) my plan to take a recover(recovery) week turned into a hard week of training in preparation for the Bailey Hundo. Actually, this all works out great for me since the following week will now be a light week and I had intended on going out of town anyway. Plus, I was looking for a race to do in August anyway to break things up. Bailey Hundo, here I come!

Race Report: Ridgeline Rampage

Within five minutes of my warm up I knew it was going to be a long day. My legs just didn't feel 100%. This was probably because a forty five minute easy day I had the previous Tuesday turned into an hour and half with the first fifteen minutes pushing harder than what I should have uphill to catch up with my friend. It could of also been my Wednesday tempo ride being in the mid 70% of my max HR when it should have been in the lower 70%. Or maybe I was just having an off day. Whatever the case, I just wasn't feeling it. The start of the race was a quick hole shot. I was the fifth to the singletrack, and breathing much harder than what I should have been breathing at my level of cardio. I managed to make quick work of the four racers ahead of me and was sitting in first mid first lap. Within minutes Jason Hanson of Bandwagon Racing, who was one the unfortunate guys that flatted out at the Voodoo Fire ahead of me, was on my tail. Rather than beat on each other we decided to spend a lap taking it a little easier since we had a decent gap. Jason apparently was feeling strong that day (or I was just feeling that weak) because he was pulling away from me a little about two thirds into the lap. Out of the blue another racer passed by me. When he caught up to Jason the race was on for the two of them and they were off. Jason was able to hold him off and ended up winning by two minutes. Awesome to see since he had such bad luck two weeks prior. For me the race turned grim. By lap three of the six laps my legs were really feeling it. One by one I watched racers pass me.  I was helpless to attack.  I ended up 11th in 30-39 and 45th overall. Not at all what I had hoped for, nor was it a display of what I'm capable of. As bad as the day was, I still managed to beat my previous time by almost twenty five minutes. I guess I can't expect every race to go great, but I'm still pretty disappointed in myself. All I can do now is analyze what might of caused this and not make the same mistakes in the future. Battle the Bear is in two weeks which is my home stomping grounds since I've used Bear Creek Lake for endurance training several times. Hopefully I can redeem myself there. Heres' the stats: 

Pics from the race:

Voodoo Fire Pictures

Finally got all the pictures from last weekends race.  Enjoy the pics of me looking all nerdy racing with my eyeglasses on.

New Team Kit!

New Pedal Pushers Cyclery team kit is in!  Not the greatest picture, but here it is:

Well, even if I don't win I'll at least look good out there.  Very cool team kit.  Nice job guys!

First Race Report, Voodoo Fire

The first race was the Voodoo Fire down in Pueblo, CO. This was a three lap 66 mile tight, twisty, and very rocky course with lot's of sharp shale rock. Here's the Garmin info:

This race was not without some good luck, and some bad luck. Starting with the bad luck, when I got up in the morning and went to put in my contacts I noticed that one was missing. Not a clue where the missing contact must have went I had to go to plan B. I wore my glasses instead which aren't exactly great for seeing around twisty corners. Since it was probably the most twisty course I'll see all year, I have to wonder how much better I would have done with my contacts, but that's how it goes. After a chilly warm up, it was time to race! I was the second person to the singletrack. Me and the racer ahead of me spent quite awhile getting through the tail end of the 20-29 age group before things cleared up. I was able to pass him and was ahead for awhile, but then was passed by him and another racer during the second lap. As I was riding along I saw one of the racers who was ahead of me on the side of the trail with a flat tire. That meant that at the time I knew I was at least second. I picked up the pace to see if I could close the gap, but the racer I thought was ahead of me was no where in sight so I played it safe on the last lap so not to fall victim to a flat myself. I crossed the finish line at an official time of 5:06:30.1. The announcer said he thought I may have been first for 30-39 age group, and as I was walking to gather my things it was made official. I ran into the racer I thought was first. He had flatted four times before calling it quits. Lucky for me, but terrible luck for him. I really hated to hear that since I know how hard everyone trains all year, and to be disqualified because of a flat just sucks. Next race my friend. So there you have it, first place in 30-39 age group!

1st Place!

It's good to know that all the hard work has paid off. I know my loved ones have put up with a lot over the last few months since I haven't always been in a great mood after hardcore dieting, and riding in the freezing cold winter nights. Thank you to my beautiful wife and my friends for putting up with me! This win is for all of you. And of course, couldn't have done it without my team Pedal Pushers Cyclery! Great start to the season!

Sylvan Island Stampede Photos

Just a few photos from the race last weekend.

Race requirement: Have a good time.
Check!

It's probably best the course tape covers my face... who wants to see that anyway!?

Craving the turn

Pushing before a short steep hill

Training Day In Santa Barbara

My wife and I had a great trip to Santa Barbara.  The hotel had bikes to use so that's how we got around.  Downtown was about four miles from the hotel.  We headed out in the morning to do some shopping, then went to Trader Joe's and grabbed stuff for a picnic by the beach.

Cruiser Bikes by the beach

After basking in the sun for awhile we headed to The Brewhouse for some samplers.

Samplers at The Brewhouse Santa Barbara, CA

After The Brewhouse we went to Union Ale for four more samplers and then off to dinner at Brophy Brother's which over looked the ocean.  There was an hour wait at Brophy Brother's so we went to a local pub.

Telegraph White Ale at pub while waiting to be seated for dinner...  that bottle was two and half glasses worth!

After a day of fun in the sun we headed back to the hotel for some much needed hot tub time then off to bed.  Awesome day!  Rode about thirteen miles in total at a nice slow cruiser pace.  Great training day!

Recovery Week A Success!

After taking off Monday and Tuesday,  followed by a light ride on Wednesday, by Thursday I felt much better for Friday's two hours with short thirty second max efforts.  It was the right amount of intensity to test the waters and see how I was feeling after hitting the wall last week.  I felt great! I was even able to ride with some Pedal Pushers teammates for a little bit.  Thursday I shuttled Mount Falcon with some midwestern friends whose weak lungs couldn't handle too much climbing in altitude.  It took me awhile to acclimate myself so I felt their pain.  After the ride, I rushed to pack and make it to the airport for a much deserved weekend trip to Santa Barbara, CA that my wondeful wife surprised me with.  She is a flight attendant (therefore we fly free) so we try do these weekend trips whenever I'm not training or racing on the weekends.  Best wife ever!  Biking, travel... yep, I have a rough life, I know.

My trail bike, 2008 Giant Trace X1, on Mount Falcon.  The gold RaceRace Atlas handlebars and Crank Brothers Joplin dropper seatpost is my sad attempt to make it an all mountain rig... gotta love the gold bling though!

Picture of me climbing White Ranch and somehow smiling... yes, I love the climbing as much as the downhill... I'm one of those weird kids.

Balcony of the hotel in Santa Barbara, CA!  Can't believe I'm saying this, but the humidity feels nice with the 70's degree weather... and humidity is one of the big reasons I left the Midwest in the first place!

Parasympathetic Overtraining

Eureka! I've found it! After doing some research on over training I figured out what was going on! Whenever you see articles about overtraining it always talks about your HR being higher than normal. With Parasympathetic Overtraining the opposite happens, your HR is lower. This happens to a lot of endurance racers and is exactly what was happening to me. As blogged about in my topic “The Dreaded Dead Legs Experience”, it was getting harder for me to keep my HR up during my Wednesday threshold (maximum steady state) workout even though my perceived exertion felt like I was really pushing it. By Friday I was cashed. There's a great blog post about it here: http://troyshellhamer.blogspot.com/2012/03/parasympathetic-overtraining-and.html. Looks like I really need to start paying more attention to my perceived exertion especially during hard training blocks. Maybe now that I'm more aware of the signs of it I can better prevent it from happening again.

RECOVERY!

Feeling pretty let down after failing one of the most critical training days in my winter/spring training. It was apparent I needed a break physically, and mentally. Luckily, I had some out of town guests that were good friends of my friends back in the Midwest that needed a mountain bike tour guide. I decided to bring them to a local trail that was easy to shuttle to the top so they didn't have to do much climbing in the high altitude, and I could save my legs from climbing as well. We also met up with even more Midwest vacationers who are good friends with one my Colorado transplant friends. We all enjoyed some down hilling together and then met up with my wife at the bottom who brought sangria and a snack while we waiting(waited) for (the)cars to be retrieved from the top of the mountain.  Best wife ever!  Great times were had and it was awesome to ride with somebody other then my own thoughts. I also took a break from logging my calories and over indulged in some really good grilled food for two days. Made some new friends, ate some good, and even had some good beer for the first time in weeks. After a fun weekend it's time to get back on track and start my recovery week. Going to cut out a day off of training and really going to listen to the body. If I'm not feeling it from the start I'm not going to attempt riding. Recovery at this point is much more important then(than getting in a ride) getting a ride in.

The Dreaded Dead Legs Experience

Well, it's happened. I've hit a wall that I've never hit before. The dreaded feeling of dead legs as result of over training. As blogged about on March 26, I had a hard week of training and positive results. I want into the beginning of the second week of the training block with high hopes of having another great week. Monday's VO2 max went well. I took it easy on Tuesday for my recovery ride by hitting the dirt jumps at the local Golden Bike Park... maybe should have took a few more breaks between hitting the jumps since my legs aren't used to jumping. Wednesday I should have took the hint that over training was occurring and backed off. I had three Maximum Steady State intervals with efforts uphill. The first interval I felt a little weak, but decided to do the second interval anyway since sometimes the first interval your still not quite warmed up. The second interval I was able to do, but it was a lot more of an effort then what it should have been. Stubbornly I did the third interval anyway. I should have did the first interval and known that a recovery was needed, but I guess I figured a day off on Thursday was going to be enough... that was a mistake. Friday was a 3.5 hour ride with a 2 hour tempo effort. I had to cut the tempo effort short by 20 minutes because I could feel the effects of over training worse then ever. I was really hoping by cutting the Friday training short I'd somehow miraculously recovery enough for Saturdays 5 hour hard endurance training. Instead Saturday was a disaster. I couldn't even hit the low HR zones to warm up. I ended up doing a 3.5 hour death march ride before calling it quits. My diet also played a key role in my over training. On Thursday I broke 150 was done to 149. I was so caught up on trying to hit my max power to weight ratio that I continued to cut calories during two critical weeks that I needed the extra calories. Fail.

Riding The Ranch

Headed out to White Ranch for my 2.5 hours ride with Maximum Steady State uphill efforts. Hit Belcher Hill Trail hard up hill three times and came back down it three times. Each time I was pushing pretty hard uphill to keep my heart rate in the proper zone. Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought White Ranch was the place to ride. I passed at least 20 people heading down after each hard effort, and then turned around to do another interval and passed the same people again. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone out there. Wasn't trying to show boat, just trying to stay in my HR zone. Great to see that many people out there enjoying the mid 70's temperature in March!