Bier en modder

Spent the past few days getting things back in order; mentally, physically, and mechanically.  Saturday’s race was a little like taking a rather large band-aid off.  I wasn’t sure how bad it would hurt (it did) but it needed to be done.

With a few days to let it all sink in, I’m left with a little sore and irritable feeling from it all.  That wasn’t my best race.  It’s fair to say that it was arguably one of my worst.  I didn’t plan on doing that well.  I had a fairly heavy training load the past few weeks so my legs weren’t that sharp.  That’s ok.  I have my focus further on down in November and December.

But I didn’t anticipate letting myself get mentally beat down.  That stings a bit more.

I took a step back and looked at my plan for the rest of the season.  Fitness-wise, I don’t feel that far off, which is good.  Aside from focusing and making every workout count, there’s not much more I can do.  I can’t train that much more than I already am.  My bike handling needs serious attention.  I need to dedicate more time towards dismounting/remounting and cornering drills.  I’m not going to win a race with good skills but I sure as shit will lose time without them.

I shouldn’t be worried.  It’s still September and there’s plenty of racing left this year.  Other than showing up and being ready to race, nothing happened last Saturday that concerned me that much.  I’m confident that I’ll get some decent results later on.

Pretty sweet spell of weather we have this week.  It’s still technically summer but you can feel that the sun is getting lower.

Spent a delightful afternoon jamming up and down Saltzman during lunch.  It’s typically about 20-23 minutes up, depending on where I start from.  Perfect interval length.

Saw a couple other ‘crossers out there too and a few more on the ride back in on Lief Erikson.

Did a mental check on the bike to see what, if anything needs servicing or upgrading.

Strongly contemplating a new wheelset for this season.  Our team order is due Monday and I need to suck it up and get a new set or carry on with what I have.  There’s nothing wrong with my current setup (Mavic Reflex w/ Ultegra hubs & Grifo’s glued on).  A tad heavy but relatively easy to service and, at least for me, the Grifo’s are a dreamy ride.  I ran them aroung 34-36 psi last year and never had a problem.

Since I’m just on the lean side of 2 bills, shaving weight has never been a huge concern of mine.  But a new Easton EC 70 set will drop 2 full quarter-pounders from my rotational weight.  That’s kind of a big deal.  The EC 90 Aero will drop that weight again but it’s out of my price range this year.

I’ll need a new set of tubulars for them too.  I’m on the fence whether to re-up with Grifo’s or just go for it with Dugasts.  I have no personal experience with Dugasts but I’ve only read that they offer a similar ride to Grifos but just…better.  Veloshop had a few Rhino 34’s left in stock.  I’ll think about it over the weekend.

Last month’s brain-fart is brought to you by…well, you’ll figure it out.

In Bend.  Rach and I left the kids with M & D and headed in to town for drinks, dinner, and a movie (Batman).  Got through the first 2 with little time to spare for the movie start.  Yes, I know there’s a hour of flippin’ previews but for 9 bucks, I want my goddam previews.

Rach heads inside to pee while I stand in line for the tix.  Man, this is taking forever.  Plus, I need to pee too.

Get the tix and head inside.  Time to hit the head.  Now, most Regal Cinemas have the universal bathroom entrance where you head into an alcove and then go right or left.  Mind you, they both look identical.  Same subway tile.  Same colors.  Everything.

I head in right by the vending machine on the wall and think, ‘that’s funny, why would they have O.B. tampons in the men’s room?’…and abruptly hit the brakes.  Oh shit.  I put it into reverse and head left.  Oopsie.  My bad.

Hanging out at Bend Distillery Bar in Bend, watching the Teen Spirit folk milling around. 2 walk up to each other, one says “Dude, saw you last night…you were so drunk-assssssss”. Good stuff.

Long time-no writey…

Lots of stuff going on over the past couple weeks. Way more than I can possibly cover here in one post. I’ll sum up.

1. Overtrained/over-reached late last week. Completely and utterly wiped me out. Couldn’t even maintain threshold power for more than 5 minutes. That’s bad. Wasn’t from physical over-training (but the rainy Tues. PIR didn’t help) but more just a mental shut-down.   Couldn’t focus.  Tired.  Grumpy.  Good thing I was taking a week off.
2. Got my PowerTap back from Saris late last week too. Still doesn’t work. Called today & they’re sending out a new head unit.  I always appreciate stand-up companies.  More on that later.
3. Been in Bend with the fam & my parents (in from CT). It’s been a fun, fun week. Nice and relaxing. Took the fixie mtb and the cross bike (to tune up). Fixie was fun around here. Although, I should add, navigating the bike paths around Sunriver is…challenging. Let’s put it this way, I’d rather enter a C/Mst C race than ride some of the trails around here at peak hours. Regardless, it’s been good to recharge the batteries out here. I feel good and ready to get back to work.
4. Went for a great road ride last Friday. Sunriver-Bend-Mt. Bachelor-Sunriver. I initially rode into town to Hutch’s to hook up with their group ride. No one showed. I take that back, one guy showed.  Eric on Therapeutic Assoc. He rode out with me to near the turn-off for Sunriver near Mt. Bachelor. Like I said, it was nice and I was glad for the company.
5. Speaking of Bend…what’s up with the 5 o’clock happy hour start?  Look, I appreciate the whole rural, slower lifestyle thing but I like starting my happy hour around 4.  I’ll even go to 3 on a good day.  Had a beer at Bend Brewing until 5.  A couple Juniper Gin martinis and all’s well.

That’s all I can think of for now.  I tried reaching a zen state of nothingness while on holiday.  Seemed to have worked.

I’m back now.  It’s September.  Cool, damp weather is getting closer.  Got some fantastic workouts in so far this week.  I’m itching to get going.

Today’s horoscope:

If you become a wallflower, you will wilt.  Time to put your best foot forward.

Excellent advice for Tabor tonight.

I could easily show up, grab someones wheel and ride in the warm collective bosom of the pack for 8 hill interval laps.

Or, I could go out and have fun.  Maybe try to make a break.  Who knows.  I may pop after a couple laps.  Then again, I may not.

I’m liking Option B.  I’m also liking the fact that Belmont Station is just down the hill and happens to have a whole slew of beer on tap.  Sounds like a good way to celebrate Option B.

I’ll update tomorrow on how it went.

There was an amusing game we’d play in school, the hour of power, where we’d take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. On the surface it seems pretty easy. Hey, it’s just a teeny sip of beer.

You’d typically start off pretty strong but most everyone bonked around 20-30 minutes. Those who made it past halfway were a pathetic mess. I can’t remember if anyone ever succesfully finshed. It adds up to 5 beers in a hour – pretty staggering by any measurement and a textbook case of binge-drinking at it’s ugliest.

This sprint workout I’ve been doing feels a little like that. It’s an hour of 10 sec. sprints every 3 minutes. In between sprints, you’re supposed to keep a fairly brisk tempo. Doesn’t sound that bad. I mean, come on…it’s 10 seconds.

Like the hour of power, I start of strong; high wattage, tons of snap and a solid effort all the way through. I’m feeling good. The first 30 minutes usually fly by. The second half…not so much. With about 6 or 8 to go, it takes noticeably more effort to keep a tempo pace and I usually start doing the math to count how many I have left. I also start thinking how overrated speed and power is. With a couple left, I’m a mess and the f-bombs are flying.

But when it’s all over it’s strangely euphoric. It’s hard work, at least for me, and I’m hoping it pays off in the long run. While most of my miles are relatively slow right now, I do try to sneak one of these rides in each week.