TT done. Got 8th in the tt, putting me in 7th for GC. Not stoked at all with TT time. Course was an 11 mile rolling out and back. Crazy strong headwind on way out. Saved too much going out, which I was trying not to do. In retrospect, should have treated turn around like it was the finish line because I was spinning out the whole way back.
Got crit tonight. Riding my cross bike (Ridley got totalled in stage 1 for those of you who do not know) so hoping to hang on and help pull off the win for a teammate.
Tomorrow it is on. Pretty sure Wentz and myself can go with anything that moves and since we are sitting 6 and 7 respectively on GC, should have some good cards to play should both of us make the selection.
Got to finish getting cross bike ready for crit. Awesome times!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Riding Fuel. Before
Although it seems counter intuitive to write about nutrition on a blog entitled Bonk For Fun, I have had a fair amount of questions regarding food choices. Since I vary my answers depending on when we are talking about, I'll cover this topic in three different entries: Before, During, and After.
Before:
Personally, I believe that "before the ride food" is the hardest to dial in. Why? If you eat a big meal, you generally need some time to digest it before hoping on the bike and if you don't eat a big meal and your ride runs on the long side, it seems no matter what food you put down on the bike, you'll still be borderline bonking by the time you are heading home. The solution to this is simple, if you eat 2-3 hours before your ride, you should be all set. Sometimes, however, this is easier said than done. If your ride meets at 8am, who wants to wake up at 5am to get some food down? On those days, I do everything I can to have the food ready before I go to bed, eat as soon as I wake up, usually a little after 6am, then, if need be, go back to bed for another 30 mins. I generally just stay up and try to catch up on my blog reading or do some last minute adjustments to my bike. I have grown to like not rushing out the door as soon as I wake up.
Some people can plow down a big bowl of ceral and hit the road - that is awesome, but just know, you are running on fumes. In fact, the word breakfast refers literally to breaking one's fast. When you sleep, your body is using all the calories you have gathered throughout the day to rebuild and rejuvenate. If you are like most cyclist I know, chances are you went to bed a little hungry to make sure you don't pack on any extra pounds. That fine (I know I try to), but that means your body's glycogen stores (body's stored form of glucose) is pretty well depleted. Anything you put down right away, will generally not be available for energy for 2-3 hours depending on the composition of what you are eating.
All that to say eat 2-3 hours before your ride. Your body will love you for it.
What do I eat? It depends. I have to say my favorite amongst favorites is chopped up fruit in steel cut oats with nuts. It has all the calories in the right distribution of fat, carbs, and protein to keep you going in the long.
So here's the receipe:
Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked steel cut oats (you can get these in the bulk food section of your grovery store for $0.99. They look like little pellets.)
1 cup water (Recipe is 1 part oats, 2 parts water. Simple math if you making more)
1/4 cup seed and nuts mixture (again I get this in the bulk food section and eat them fairly consistantly throughout the day.)
Apple, banana, or other fresh fruit (chop the fruit up into whatever size pieces you fancy. If I am going on a shorter ride or watching my calories for the day, I tend to up the fresh fruit and reduce the amount of oats. Not recommended for the long boys.)
1 tblsp Cinnamon (Cinnamon is awesome, add as much as you can handle!)
1/4 cup non fat milk (more or less depending on consistency you like.)
1 tblsp Honey or Syrup (this is totally optional. I tend to add it if I know I am going long and want the extra calories.)
Directions
Combine oats, water, nuts/seeds, fruit, and cinnamon in large sauce pan the night before. Doing it the night before is not crucial, but remember that bit about eating right when you wake up? Prepping and soaking the oats and nuts the night before helps them to cook fast. I also have a theory that they retain more water that way. In addition, prepping the night before lets everything blend together - think apple pie!
In the morning, get the water going for your french press, plop the concoction mixture on the stove over medium heat. Cook till all water has boiled out (5-10 mins). Pull off stove, let cool, add milk, and enjoy a day of bonk free riding. You'll still have to eat on the bike, but this is a pretty damn good base to put everything else on.
Hope you enjoy it. If you are still hungry, or get hungry before you head out on your ride, chomp down on a banana or something that is quickly and easily digestible. And for those of you wondering where all this good wholesome food puts you caloriewise, fear not:
Perfect ratio to keep you going in the long. Next up: what eat on the bike!
Before:
Personally, I believe that "before the ride food" is the hardest to dial in. Why? If you eat a big meal, you generally need some time to digest it before hoping on the bike and if you don't eat a big meal and your ride runs on the long side, it seems no matter what food you put down on the bike, you'll still be borderline bonking by the time you are heading home. The solution to this is simple, if you eat 2-3 hours before your ride, you should be all set. Sometimes, however, this is easier said than done. If your ride meets at 8am, who wants to wake up at 5am to get some food down? On those days, I do everything I can to have the food ready before I go to bed, eat as soon as I wake up, usually a little after 6am, then, if need be, go back to bed for another 30 mins. I generally just stay up and try to catch up on my blog reading or do some last minute adjustments to my bike. I have grown to like not rushing out the door as soon as I wake up.
Some people can plow down a big bowl of ceral and hit the road - that is awesome, but just know, you are running on fumes. In fact, the word breakfast refers literally to breaking one's fast. When you sleep, your body is using all the calories you have gathered throughout the day to rebuild and rejuvenate. If you are like most cyclist I know, chances are you went to bed a little hungry to make sure you don't pack on any extra pounds. That fine (I know I try to), but that means your body's glycogen stores (body's stored form of glucose) is pretty well depleted. Anything you put down right away, will generally not be available for energy for 2-3 hours depending on the composition of what you are eating.
All that to say eat 2-3 hours before your ride. Your body will love you for it.
What do I eat? It depends. I have to say my favorite amongst favorites is chopped up fruit in steel cut oats with nuts. It has all the calories in the right distribution of fat, carbs, and protein to keep you going in the long.
So here's the receipe:
Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked steel cut oats (you can get these in the bulk food section of your grovery store for $0.99. They look like little pellets.)
1 cup water (Recipe is 1 part oats, 2 parts water. Simple math if you making more)
1/4 cup seed and nuts mixture (again I get this in the bulk food section and eat them fairly consistantly throughout the day.)
Apple, banana, or other fresh fruit (chop the fruit up into whatever size pieces you fancy. If I am going on a shorter ride or watching my calories for the day, I tend to up the fresh fruit and reduce the amount of oats. Not recommended for the long boys.)
1 tblsp Cinnamon (Cinnamon is awesome, add as much as you can handle!)
1/4 cup non fat milk (more or less depending on consistency you like.)
1 tblsp Honey or Syrup (this is totally optional. I tend to add it if I know I am going long and want the extra calories.)
Directions
Combine oats, water, nuts/seeds, fruit, and cinnamon in large sauce pan the night before. Doing it the night before is not crucial, but remember that bit about eating right when you wake up? Prepping and soaking the oats and nuts the night before helps them to cook fast. I also have a theory that they retain more water that way. In addition, prepping the night before lets everything blend together - think apple pie!
Hope you enjoy it. If you are still hungry, or get hungry before you head out on your ride, chomp down on a banana or something that is quickly and easily digestible. And for those of you wondering where all this good wholesome food puts you caloriewise, fear not:
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Taking it to the lower-extreme: FTP work
It has been more than I while since I last posted, but I would certainly like to force myself back into the habit now that the cycling world is back in action and people have something more than broken sponsorship deals, transfers, and who gets the new ugliest-kit award to talk about.
To get back into the swing of things, I thought I would throw out some ideas of Threshold Training. This year for me, working on improving my threshold level has been some of the most effective training I have done. When I say working on threshold, do I mean do endless interval work in level 4? No! In fact, a lot of the work I have done thus far this off-season was designed to get my ready for those types of intervals, not doing those intervals themselves.
To start with, I break my early off-season into the typical base1, base2, base3. Each base period is three weeks of increasing durations (e.g., week1 = 12hrs, week2 = 14hrs, week3 = 16hrs). After I complete my third week, I do a Recovery week, which is usually about .5 * week3's duration. Less important to me than hours or miles during the recovery week is making sure I get about 2 days off the bike, a couple days with light recovery ride (1-2.5hrs) so I keep some fluidity in my legs, and being ready for a weekly Function Threshold Power (FTP) test, which is preceded by a leg opener work-out the day before. (The point of this entry is not about rest weeks, God bless them, so I wont discuss them too much. It should just be said that by the time Saturday's test rolls around, I am itching to get back into training and my legs feel great. If I have the cash, I try to get a deep tissue massage at the beginning of this week also.)
So we have discussed my basic structure (and probably a little too much on recovery weeks). But what do I put into those weeks to try to make them effective? The answer is it depends. Each period is different from the others and each week within the period are different from one another. If there is one general rule I follow when I am trying to design my plan and workouts, it is when looking at the big picture, it is important to progressively build intensity. For me, this was done as follows:
Base1 was all about getting some miles back in my legs. I did a lot of gym work to try to improve my force and speed skill work on the bike (after all, Power [Watts] = Force * Velocity). My bike work-outs, although fairly long, were almost totally in level2 or Endurance level. Sometimes in climbing I would creep higher to level3-4, but never for more than a few minutes and I always tried to bring it down directly after climbing. The key here for me was spending as much time consistently in level2 as I could. If I had too much time in level3, for example, I would not be able to ride in level2 for as long.
Base2 is when I started to have a bit more fun. I spent less time in the gym, but started working incorporating force reps into my weekly routine to transfer my gains from the gym into on the bike strength. In addition to introducing force reps, I started doing tempo intervals (level3). Although it does not seem like much (during the race season last year there were races where I spent almost the entire race at level3), doing these interval this early is certainly something you will feel. For me, I tried to make these long. I start with 3x20minx5min, then progressed to 2x30minx5min, then 2x45minx5min. I was certainly cooked by the end of these, but because of how long they were, it is not like doing the tradition 5x5x5-make-me-want-to-puke intervals. I tried to be steady through-out and add duration each week.
Base3, the time when things get really fun. For Base3, I moved out of the gym (with the exception of 1 day a week of light maintenance and a couple days of core) and stopped the force reps, and I started introducing actual threshold work. Like my tempo intervals, I would try to keep them longer with less intervals. 2x20minx5min at the lower end of level4 was my goal for these. In addition to the longer intervals, I would also do some shorter threshold intervals, 5x6minx2min, on a climb later in the week so I didn't lose my climbing legs. Again, I never felt like I was pinning it during these intervals. There was a steady increase in pain, but I could do these intervals, then put down some big miles the next day without too much discomfort. The overall goal of these intervals in my mind was A.) to push my threshold level up from the bottom and B.) get my body ready for the stress of the higher intensity interval that start next week (Build Periods). Some of the intervals I will be starting next week, are designed to pull my threshold level from the top up; hence, the distinction lower or sub-threshold work versus threshold work proper.
This month's FTP test. What even prompted me to write this entry is that I saw such good gains in this month's FTP test, that I thought it was worth sharing. Before I get into some pictures, I'll say that my watts are only half of the improvement. The other half was proper pacing, increasing my cadence (something which was previously extremely low during my TTs), and just feeling more comfortable while preforming the test.
Figure 1. shows my entire TT. The picture is compressed, but you should be able to click on it to expand the view. The yellow horizontal lines are watts, the orange horizontal line is elevation, green is cadence (rpm), blue is speed in mph, and red on top is hear rate (bpm). The red lines running vertical show the 20 min TT broken into 5 min quadrants (QI, QII, QIII, and QIV). The numbers circled in green on the side are Normalized Power on top and Average Power below that. Looking at those two number, you will see that they are within a watt of one another. What that means is that there was little undulation through-out the TT--that is, power was constant throughout the entire 20 mins as opposed to on again, off again. Exactly what you want in a TT.
A bit on the actual numbers, although these numbers are not that great (great for me, but many dudes I know could blow this out of the water), there has been steady improvement from FTP test to FTP test. A test last month showed an average power of 290 watts and a test from June, middle of the last year's race season, had me at 299 watts also. The difference between last years and this past weekend's is A.) I am almost 10 pounds lighter (Watts / Kg is what cycling is all about) and B.) that last test was in the prime of racing season. I have plenty of time to slowly build up my FTP so that I will be flying past last years marker by June. I expect gains from here on out to come much slower than this past month, but, judging by how I felt during and after this past weekend's FTP test, I think gaining another 20 watts by June is not out of the question. 20 min avg TT @ 320 w @ 138 lbs would be huge for me!
Beyond Numbers. As mentioned, the steady gains in power have been only half of the equation. The other part was how I felt through-out the test. For that, I will break each 5 min quadrant into it's own section and talk about it with accompanying graph.
Figure 2. QI. This section represents the first 5 mins of the FTP. If it can be seen, notice that the average watts are 288 w. Well shy of my final number, but I have read that starting out too high, even in a short period time trial such as a 20 min FTP test, will flood the legs with lactate acid, and the rest of the TT will be a bare before you even really get started. With that in mind, I tried to ease into it with a steady, high RPM effort.
Figure 3. QII. In the second section I start to ramp it up a bit more, but I don't go all out and I certainly don't try to make up for the lost watts in the first section . . . yet. My average watts for the second 5 mins was 295 w.
Figure 4. QIII. As you can see from the graph, in this section I come across a little elevation gain which cause me to dig (increasing my watts) followed by a little elevation loss, which forces me to spin very high to maintain my watts (remember how I said I don't have a very high cadence when I TT? ) Despite this natural disruption, there is a steady increase in intensity across the board. QIII is where I start to really feel it and put myself in whole. I still focus on efficiency, but I am really trying to crank out the watts here. My average for QIII was 298 w.
Figure 5. QIV. At 5 minutes to go, I try not to hold back anymore. Stay focused. think of motivating things, and don't hold anything back. I still try to retain some grace on the bike, but as you can see in the last minute (the initial spike was coming out of a corner), when you throw everything you have left at a TT, the effort is no longer as steady and graceful. Average watts for the last five were 308 w.
Round-up. An interesting thing to take away from this entry is that, like the proper pacing in a TT, season training should progressively build in intensity so your body is ready to handle what you throw at it in the last month leading up to a big race. Hopefully I will be able to steadily improve upon this through-out my training and as I do, I hope to share it with you. The real test is going to be whether or not I can improve my anaerobic capacity and sprint watts. Stay tuned for that, and how I went about it.
To get back into the swing of things, I thought I would throw out some ideas of Threshold Training. This year for me, working on improving my threshold level has been some of the most effective training I have done. When I say working on threshold, do I mean do endless interval work in level 4? No! In fact, a lot of the work I have done thus far this off-season was designed to get my ready for those types of intervals, not doing those intervals themselves.
To start with, I break my early off-season into the typical base1, base2, base3. Each base period is three weeks of increasing durations (e.g., week1 = 12hrs, week2 = 14hrs, week3 = 16hrs). After I complete my third week, I do a Recovery week, which is usually about .5 * week3's duration. Less important to me than hours or miles during the recovery week is making sure I get about 2 days off the bike, a couple days with light recovery ride (1-2.5hrs) so I keep some fluidity in my legs, and being ready for a weekly Function Threshold Power (FTP) test, which is preceded by a leg opener work-out the day before. (The point of this entry is not about rest weeks, God bless them, so I wont discuss them too much. It should just be said that by the time Saturday's test rolls around, I am itching to get back into training and my legs feel great. If I have the cash, I try to get a deep tissue massage at the beginning of this week also.)
So we have discussed my basic structure (and probably a little too much on recovery weeks). But what do I put into those weeks to try to make them effective? The answer is it depends. Each period is different from the others and each week within the period are different from one another. If there is one general rule I follow when I am trying to design my plan and workouts, it is when looking at the big picture, it is important to progressively build intensity. For me, this was done as follows:
Base1 was all about getting some miles back in my legs. I did a lot of gym work to try to improve my force and speed skill work on the bike (after all, Power [Watts] = Force * Velocity). My bike work-outs, although fairly long, were almost totally in level2 or Endurance level. Sometimes in climbing I would creep higher to level3-4, but never for more than a few minutes and I always tried to bring it down directly after climbing. The key here for me was spending as much time consistently in level2 as I could. If I had too much time in level3, for example, I would not be able to ride in level2 for as long.
Base2 is when I started to have a bit more fun. I spent less time in the gym, but started working incorporating force reps into my weekly routine to transfer my gains from the gym into on the bike strength. In addition to introducing force reps, I started doing tempo intervals (level3). Although it does not seem like much (during the race season last year there were races where I spent almost the entire race at level3), doing these interval this early is certainly something you will feel. For me, I tried to make these long. I start with 3x20minx5min, then progressed to 2x30minx5min, then 2x45minx5min. I was certainly cooked by the end of these, but because of how long they were, it is not like doing the tradition 5x5x5-make-me-want-to-puke intervals. I tried to be steady through-out and add duration each week.
Base3, the time when things get really fun. For Base3, I moved out of the gym (with the exception of 1 day a week of light maintenance and a couple days of core) and stopped the force reps, and I started introducing actual threshold work. Like my tempo intervals, I would try to keep them longer with less intervals. 2x20minx5min at the lower end of level4 was my goal for these. In addition to the longer intervals, I would also do some shorter threshold intervals, 5x6minx2min, on a climb later in the week so I didn't lose my climbing legs. Again, I never felt like I was pinning it during these intervals. There was a steady increase in pain, but I could do these intervals, then put down some big miles the next day without too much discomfort. The overall goal of these intervals in my mind was A.) to push my threshold level up from the bottom and B.) get my body ready for the stress of the higher intensity interval that start next week (Build Periods). Some of the intervals I will be starting next week, are designed to pull my threshold level from the top up; hence, the distinction lower or sub-threshold work versus threshold work proper.
This month's FTP test. What even prompted me to write this entry is that I saw such good gains in this month's FTP test, that I thought it was worth sharing. Before I get into some pictures, I'll say that my watts are only half of the improvement. The other half was proper pacing, increasing my cadence (something which was previously extremely low during my TTs), and just feeling more comfortable while preforming the test.
Figure 1. shows my entire TT. The picture is compressed, but you should be able to click on it to expand the view. The yellow horizontal lines are watts, the orange horizontal line is elevation, green is cadence (rpm), blue is speed in mph, and red on top is hear rate (bpm). The red lines running vertical show the 20 min TT broken into 5 min quadrants (QI, QII, QIII, and QIV). The numbers circled in green on the side are Normalized Power on top and Average Power below that. Looking at those two number, you will see that they are within a watt of one another. What that means is that there was little undulation through-out the TT--that is, power was constant throughout the entire 20 mins as opposed to on again, off again. Exactly what you want in a TT.
A bit on the actual numbers, although these numbers are not that great (great for me, but many dudes I know could blow this out of the water), there has been steady improvement from FTP test to FTP test. A test last month showed an average power of 290 watts and a test from June, middle of the last year's race season, had me at 299 watts also. The difference between last years and this past weekend's is A.) I am almost 10 pounds lighter (Watts / Kg is what cycling is all about) and B.) that last test was in the prime of racing season. I have plenty of time to slowly build up my FTP so that I will be flying past last years marker by June. I expect gains from here on out to come much slower than this past month, but, judging by how I felt during and after this past weekend's FTP test, I think gaining another 20 watts by June is not out of the question. 20 min avg TT @ 320 w @ 138 lbs would be huge for me!
Beyond Numbers. As mentioned, the steady gains in power have been only half of the equation. The other part was how I felt through-out the test. For that, I will break each 5 min quadrant into it's own section and talk about it with accompanying graph.
Figure 2. QI. This section represents the first 5 mins of the FTP. If it can be seen, notice that the average watts are 288 w. Well shy of my final number, but I have read that starting out too high, even in a short period time trial such as a 20 min FTP test, will flood the legs with lactate acid, and the rest of the TT will be a bare before you even really get started. With that in mind, I tried to ease into it with a steady, high RPM effort.
Figure 3. QII. In the second section I start to ramp it up a bit more, but I don't go all out and I certainly don't try to make up for the lost watts in the first section . . . yet. My average watts for the second 5 mins was 295 w.
Figure 4. QIII. As you can see from the graph, in this section I come across a little elevation gain which cause me to dig (increasing my watts) followed by a little elevation loss, which forces me to spin very high to maintain my watts (remember how I said I don't have a very high cadence when I TT? ) Despite this natural disruption, there is a steady increase in intensity across the board. QIII is where I start to really feel it and put myself in whole. I still focus on efficiency, but I am really trying to crank out the watts here. My average for QIII was 298 w.
Figure 5. QIV. At 5 minutes to go, I try not to hold back anymore. Stay focused. think of motivating things, and don't hold anything back. I still try to retain some grace on the bike, but as you can see in the last minute (the initial spike was coming out of a corner), when you throw everything you have left at a TT, the effort is no longer as steady and graceful. Average watts for the last five were 308 w.
Round-up. An interesting thing to take away from this entry is that, like the proper pacing in a TT, season training should progressively build in intensity so your body is ready to handle what you throw at it in the last month leading up to a big race. Hopefully I will be able to steadily improve upon this through-out my training and as I do, I hope to share it with you. The real test is going to be whether or not I can improve my anaerobic capacity and sprint watts. Stay tuned for that, and how I went about it.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Osmotic Centrations
I haven't posted in a while mainly because I have been getting shelled in school. Let's recap there:
I am taking Anatomy and Physiology this term which has some pretty strong pre-requisites recommendations. Going into the classes I am holding a pretty good GPA, so, in the option of opting out of the pre-reqs, I figured I could take the hit on the GPA in exchange for not spending an additional $1,000,000 for an extra term of lower level bio or chem classes. There in lies the problem...
Every class of the past two weeks have left me with more questions than answers. In cycling terms, I am off the back. According to our syllabus I am essentially off the back before the race even started. That being said, my time has been devoted to studying, but to study, I feel like I need to study if you know what I mean. The chemistery review we had the first week was Greek to me. So I did my damnedest to learn what I could of chemistry, only so I could understand what I was supposed to be studying.
So yeah, its been rough. The up shot of this, is that I am learning some of the most fascinating things I have ever tried to put into my brain. Even better, things are starting to click. Now that we are starting to move away from the chem side of physiology and into some of the more conceptual aspects, (i.e. preferred fuel sources for different levels of activity), things, like molecules themselves, are coming together.
In addition to A + P, I am taking Kinesiology, Nutrition, and, not for credit hours, a Fitness Instructor Class. Nutrition is cake work. I love the material, but most of it is review thus far (probably how people in A + P feel about the class) and Kinesiology is nothing short of amazing. The study of motion! Yeah, I am into it. Again, a Pre-req for this class is A + P, which I am just taking now. Lots of bridging up to the rest of the class has been made this past week, but things are coming grupo compacto. And of course, there is always coffee:
In addition to classes, I am planning on racing with collegiate with the PSU Cycling Team. Because of my OBRA points, I will be able to race in the Men's A field and will probably have an easy time qualifying for Collegiate Nationals - transportation and such paid for by PSU :). Should be a fun times! On the OBRA side, can't wait to start racing with Team O. The team has a meet the team group ride Oct 16th, that anyone interested in racing or joining a new team should come check out! In other OBRA, I saw the tentative race date calendar for the 2011 race season and it looks like Cherry Blossom is going to be April 8th - 10th. What that means for all you planning anal-retentives out there like me is that if you start Base 1 November 1st (perfect time to start a new season), you will have exactly enough time for the traditional training script (i.e. Base1, Base2, Base3, Build1, Build2, Peak). Was the intentional? seems to perfect not to be.
That's all. Hopefully as classes progress (hopefully along my knowledge and understanding), I'll have more time to post.
Good Luck to everyone racing Rainer tomorrow - my favorites Cross Crusade course!!!
I am taking Anatomy and Physiology this term which has some pretty strong pre-requisites recommendations. Going into the classes I am holding a pretty good GPA, so, in the option of opting out of the pre-reqs, I figured I could take the hit on the GPA in exchange for not spending an additional $1,000,000 for an extra term of lower level bio or chem classes. There in lies the problem...
Every class of the past two weeks have left me with more questions than answers. In cycling terms, I am off the back. According to our syllabus I am essentially off the back before the race even started. That being said, my time has been devoted to studying, but to study, I feel like I need to study if you know what I mean. The chemistery review we had the first week was Greek to me. So I did my damnedest to learn what I could of chemistry, only so I could understand what I was supposed to be studying.
So yeah, its been rough. The up shot of this, is that I am learning some of the most fascinating things I have ever tried to put into my brain. Even better, things are starting to click. Now that we are starting to move away from the chem side of physiology and into some of the more conceptual aspects, (i.e. preferred fuel sources for different levels of activity), things, like molecules themselves, are coming together.
That's all. Hopefully as classes progress (hopefully along my knowledge and understanding), I'll have more time to post.
Good Luck to everyone racing Rainer tomorrow - my favorites Cross Crusade course!!!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
????? Vs. The World
For those of you who do not spend your time off the bike completely indulged on bike racing, I wanted to provide a nitty-gritty guide to the up and coming World Championships. Something like World Championships in two minutes or less. In addition to the nitty-gritty, for those wanting a bit more, I'll provide some of my own thoughts and speculations to what I feel is going to be one of the best races to watch this season.
Course Description:
(Part I. Melbourne to Geelong)
The course is a tough circuit that has been called by many a strong man sprinters course. The racers leave Melbourne traveling south along the coast along a fairly flat route for the first 80km. This section will probably see some lesser players going in the break and be given quite a long leash. After the first 80km, the riders will enter Geelong and begin their 11 lap circuit course.
In comparison to what we have seen all summer, these climbs might look unimpressive, but the grade and speeds with which these riders will be riding them, makes for a very tough, unrelenting course. For information on how this profile translates to the actual course, check out this awesome video with Robbie McEwen riding us through the circuit:
The Not So Nitty-Gritty: I have heard this course described as a sprinter's course, but after seeing McEwen's video and looking at the little kick at the end, I have to rule out straight up sprinters. I think it would be smart to look at the riders who have been successful at Flanders, LBL, and even Milan San Remo. With that in mind, I throw out the riders I like (starting with the ones I feel most likely to win), which are the same names everyone else is throwing out, with some of my thoughts and questions.
Freire: This man already has 3 world titles. I'll say that again, Freire has won the world championships 3 times already. Given his strength, this is a rider that is perfectly suited to this course. He has been out of competition due to a sinus infection and subsequent operation, but if history tells us anything, it is that he knows how to prepare for 1 day world events. Another point Freire's way is that Rodriguez has pulled out of the race, making Freire will be the sole leader of the Spanish team. He is not a lead out kind of guy, but it never hurts to have some team mates willing to pull back a break.
Gilbert: Anyone who watched the Vuelta knows that this man is on fires. Since the world course was named, he has been a favorite in many people's eyes. The question is, will there be anything left to burn come Oct 3rd? There is no doubt that him and his beloved big ring are going to be a factor in this race, but how much of a factor? Gilbert brings with him some strong Belgian riders - one or two them being outside chances themselves.
Pozzato: On the other end of the spectrum from Gilbert, we have Pozzato. Pozzato has had an incredibly quite year with only one win in the Giro that I can remember. Unlike Gilbert, Pozzato's Vuelta showed a rider who still had a ways to go before anyone would declare him "on form". If Gilbert did too much, did Pozzato do too little? Pozzato did such cool things with the Italian national jersey, I can't help but want to see what his world stripped kit would look like. (Given that Italy's national coach, Bettini, has already dedicated the win to recently deceased former coach Ballerini, I am sure Pozzato has already designed it.)
Farrar: Not to be confused with Freire, Farrar has never won a world championship, but many are claiming that he can. Looking back at the Vuelta, we have seen that he can be their at the end of hilly stages (stage 19 comes to mind), but still often falls short (again, stage 19 comes to mind). He will have a top selve team (in fact 3 riders are coming with him from Garmin which can only help) trying to get him to where he needs to be, but if there is a select break, I don't see him in it.
Hushovd: Everything about the way this man is riding this year says world champion to me. He can take a sprint, but only from a very select group that has been whittle down by hard terrain - is that not this course? I don't know if this will help or hurt, but with Hushovd comes Boasson-Hagen on the Norwegian team. Hushovd is a strong man with tons of experience, but I am not sure Hagen will surrender to him if they come to line together.
Boasson-Hagen: Like Hushovd, Hagen could do some damage on this course. He is even skipping the TT this year to focus solely on the road race. From watching Tour of Eneco and the two recent Canadian races, I have seen him come so close only to go too soon or with not enough. Lots of close calls and I think this might be another.
Evans: Coming back for the double is Evans. He has home court advantage and a strong team supporting him. If things come down to a select group, as I have thought they might, I would not be surprised to see him in it and probably attacking out of it (repeat from last year?). Given the short punchy climbs and the finishing straight, I don't think it is not a question of whether Evans will be there, but who else is with him.
Cavendish: No one likes to count Cavendish out, so I wont. However, looking at the course, I am going to say this is too hard to Cavendish, including the up hill finish. He proved everyone wrong in Milan San Remo in 2009, but this course is a different beast - same length, but more unrelenting in my mind with more at stake for the other candidates.
Cancellara: Last but not least is Cancellara. The second half of this man's season has seen some ups and downs - especially with all the recent news - but he has decided to race. A Cancellara on form could make it over the climbs with the riders, only to motor away from them on the finishing straights. But given what we have seen from the Vuelta, I am inclined to doubt this.
As McEwen said, "the more I think about this course, the more people I can see winning it." There are tons and tons of names that comes to mind, these are just a few I wanted to give my thoughts on. Some others who I have thought about are Sagan, Boom, Sanchez, Greipel, Martin . . . the list could go on. Here is a list of all registered riders (not recently updated) from the UCI. Check it out and come up with your own picks. Extra points for dark horse favorites . . .
The Details
When: Sunday October 3rd.
Time: UCI is announcing a tentative 10:00AM (Australia) start times, but that is subject to change.
Coverage: Here in the US, Universal Sports has announced coverage of all World Championship events (Men's / Women's, TT, & Road). Times and schedule have not been posted. Can't say that I am head over heels about either their coverage or their scheduling, but getting coverage at all has to be a huge step in the right direction. Other viewing options include video stream etc.
Where: Melbourne to Geelong Australia
Distance: 262km (163 miles)
Circuit Distance: 11 x 16km loops
Course Description:
(Part I. Melbourne to Geelong)
The course is a tough circuit that has been called by many a strong man sprinters course. The racers leave Melbourne traveling south along the coast along a fairly flat route for the first 80km. This section will probably see some lesser players going in the break and be given quite a long leash. After the first 80km, the riders will enter Geelong and begin their 11 lap circuit course.
(Part II. Geelong Circuit x 11 Laps)
After reaching the circuit, the race is bound to start heating-up. The roads narrow on the circuit, so look for teams to really start to apply pressure and move their men up to the front. In addition to narrowing, the circuit houses some brutal climbs that will really start to sting the legs of the riders after the 5th or so time up them.
The Not So Nitty-Gritty: I have heard this course described as a sprinter's course, but after seeing McEwen's video and looking at the little kick at the end, I have to rule out straight up sprinters. I think it would be smart to look at the riders who have been successful at Flanders, LBL, and even Milan San Remo. With that in mind, I throw out the riders I like (starting with the ones I feel most likely to win), which are the same names everyone else is throwing out, with some of my thoughts and questions.
Freire: This man already has 3 world titles. I'll say that again, Freire has won the world championships 3 times already. Given his strength, this is a rider that is perfectly suited to this course. He has been out of competition due to a sinus infection and subsequent operation, but if history tells us anything, it is that he knows how to prepare for 1 day world events. Another point Freire's way is that Rodriguez has pulled out of the race, making Freire will be the sole leader of the Spanish team. He is not a lead out kind of guy, but it never hurts to have some team mates willing to pull back a break.
Gilbert: Anyone who watched the Vuelta knows that this man is on fires. Since the world course was named, he has been a favorite in many people's eyes. The question is, will there be anything left to burn come Oct 3rd? There is no doubt that him and his beloved big ring are going to be a factor in this race, but how much of a factor? Gilbert brings with him some strong Belgian riders - one or two them being outside chances themselves.
Pozzato: On the other end of the spectrum from Gilbert, we have Pozzato. Pozzato has had an incredibly quite year with only one win in the Giro that I can remember. Unlike Gilbert, Pozzato's Vuelta showed a rider who still had a ways to go before anyone would declare him "on form". If Gilbert did too much, did Pozzato do too little? Pozzato did such cool things with the Italian national jersey, I can't help but want to see what his world stripped kit would look like. (Given that Italy's national coach, Bettini, has already dedicated the win to recently deceased former coach Ballerini, I am sure Pozzato has already designed it.)
Farrar: Not to be confused with Freire, Farrar has never won a world championship, but many are claiming that he can. Looking back at the Vuelta, we have seen that he can be their at the end of hilly stages (stage 19 comes to mind), but still often falls short (again, stage 19 comes to mind). He will have a top selve team (in fact 3 riders are coming with him from Garmin which can only help) trying to get him to where he needs to be, but if there is a select break, I don't see him in it.
Hushovd: Everything about the way this man is riding this year says world champion to me. He can take a sprint, but only from a very select group that has been whittle down by hard terrain - is that not this course? I don't know if this will help or hurt, but with Hushovd comes Boasson-Hagen on the Norwegian team. Hushovd is a strong man with tons of experience, but I am not sure Hagen will surrender to him if they come to line together.
Boasson-Hagen: Like Hushovd, Hagen could do some damage on this course. He is even skipping the TT this year to focus solely on the road race. From watching Tour of Eneco and the two recent Canadian races, I have seen him come so close only to go too soon or with not enough. Lots of close calls and I think this might be another.
Evans: Coming back for the double is Evans. He has home court advantage and a strong team supporting him. If things come down to a select group, as I have thought they might, I would not be surprised to see him in it and probably attacking out of it (repeat from last year?). Given the short punchy climbs and the finishing straight, I don't think it is not a question of whether Evans will be there, but who else is with him.
Cavendish: No one likes to count Cavendish out, so I wont. However, looking at the course, I am going to say this is too hard to Cavendish, including the up hill finish. He proved everyone wrong in Milan San Remo in 2009, but this course is a different beast - same length, but more unrelenting in my mind with more at stake for the other candidates.
Cancellara: Last but not least is Cancellara. The second half of this man's season has seen some ups and downs - especially with all the recent news - but he has decided to race. A Cancellara on form could make it over the climbs with the riders, only to motor away from them on the finishing straights. But given what we have seen from the Vuelta, I am inclined to doubt this.
As McEwen said, "the more I think about this course, the more people I can see winning it." There are tons and tons of names that comes to mind, these are just a few I wanted to give my thoughts on. Some others who I have thought about are Sagan, Boom, Sanchez, Greipel, Martin . . . the list could go on. Here is a list of all registered riders (not recently updated) from the UCI. Check it out and come up with your own picks. Extra points for dark horse favorites . . .
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Ever wonder how the Oregon State Road Champ spends his offseason?
. . . Crosstraining
Good on you Quinn! The Family Fun Zone didn't know what hit it.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Flandophile
Simon over at La Gazzetta Della Bici, found this little ditty during his endless internet scouring:
For a complete collection of these videos, and a fair amount of your afternoon wasted (like Boonen's coke habit, it's addictive) check out Velograph. There is also a pretty rad write-up on a recent gravel ride that, especially after his review, I am kicking myself for missing. Check it out! This is what Oregon has to offer.
Other than being a perfect example of cycling photography, it also tells me that Ritte Racing did their home work when they came out with this:
For a complete collection of these videos, and a fair amount of your afternoon wasted (like Boonen's coke habit, it's addictive) check out Velograph. There is also a pretty rad write-up on a recent gravel ride that, especially after his review, I am kicking myself for missing. Check it out! This is what Oregon has to offer.
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