Hills, What Hills?

The ride today was I had been planning for a while. We had a nice group to kick it off. It was SS Dan, Ted Logic, Charlie, Mike K, Dennis Smith, Matty T, and myself. Once again we ran into a couple of real Assholes on 926, what the fuck is with these people, do they actually own the road or just think they do. Once we got onto Mill road things calmed down and we could relax and ride. The idea was to have a nice little warm up climb then start hitting some bigger ones, catch a little break in the middle then hit a few really tough climbs at the end. I have to admit, I wasn't feeling my best at the start and was begining to think "this is going to be a long day". After the first couple of climbs I started feeling a little better. Matt, who rode in from Landenberg, was riding really strong today, it seemed like the longer we rode the stronger he got. We made our way to Greenlawn rd, you all know it because it is part of the Tour de Chester. As we were heading down the other side Matt says, "I know another hill we can throw in". So he takes up a nasty little climb that was very similar to the one we just did.

From there we made our way to Frog Hollow rd. After that was the nice flat section along the river. I was talking to Charlie and he says, " my legs are starting to come back". So I said "I guess this means we won't be recovering along here. " Fuck No", and then Charlie took off. Next thing I know we are cruising along at about 28mph. Oh well you know what they say, "No rest for the wicked". We get through the flat not recovery section and start on the hills again. We hit a little one I use for power hill repeats, then it was off to Northbrook. That climb sucks, the only good thing about it, is the smell of fresh baked doughnuts coming from the store at the top. From there we headed to Cannery rd, also part of the Tour de Chester, only we were going the opposite way. It sucks because you have a few good rollers, then a fast downhill to a steep climb. I don't know why but you just can't seem to carry any momentum into that hill. After that we have one more climb, We take a left on 162 and climb all the way to 82. It is about a mile and a half. Lucky for me I got to turn off at my rd and head home. In the end I had 40.5 miles in under 2.5 hours. I think the average was 17 mph. Not bad considering the last time we did a similar loop with out as many hills we averaged 16.2. I got to say everybody seeme to be riding really well right now. This makes me even more excited about this road race.

Well I hope everybody enjoyed my little loop, and I hope it hurt them as much as it hurt me. We will be doing it again.
PS thanks for the little addition Matt, it was a nice one two punch being back to back with Greenlawn.
I must go lie down for a while, so Later

My replacement
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Day off at the slopes

No riding today, but my day was bike related. I just received my replacement Ionic Single Speed. I had broken the original twice ,so they just gave me a brand new frame. The new frame is a lot nicer than the original. It has much wider seat stays, so I can run any tire I want. Before I was limited to a 1.9. Plus it is disc specific, no v-brake tabs. The color turned out great. It is actually brighter than before. Dean bikes and Ionic cycles really came throug for me. I know they aren't the fastest people out there, but they did give a brand new frame no questions asked. I am looking forward to the chance to ride it again. It is a sweet riding bike.

Also we recently got a web cam. It is pretty cool. With windows messenger we can talk to and see Rachaels parents over the internet. Considering they live in England I think it is pretty cool. Plus it will cut down on our long distance bill.

I a, looking forward to tomorrows ride. I've been wanting to do this loop for a long time. I just hope I have some legs. I think we should have a good group.
Stay tuned for a complete ride report tomorrow.

How do I get on this ride
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There Has To Be An Easier Way

I spent most of this morning trying to fix my computer problems, this meant spending 2 hours on the phone with technical support. Eventually I got things fixed and I could head out and do my work out on the road. Todays work out was a real treat. My coach (www.fatmarc.com) calls the LT intervals, I call them these things suck intervals. The idea is to warm up , then go at 85 % max heart rate for 4-7 minutes, recover and repeat. I did 3 sets today, 5,6,and 6 minutes. This was my first lt work out, eventually I will increase the length and the number of intervals. Don't get me wrong todays work out hurt like hell. I don't think i could have pushed much harder, and to add insult to injury, my ride home was into a nasty headwind then up a pretty good climb. I do like the feeling I get when I've finished a work out, that jelly leg feeling is pretty cool.

The other good news is, I have finally started to lose a little weight. I am down 9 lbs. and my clothes actually fit again. So tonight Rachael and I went to the Half Moon for dinner. When I was working full time we went there every couple of weeks. We haven't been there in months so it was a nice treat.
Rachael had a sesame chicken salad and washed it down with a Magic Hat Fat Angel. I went with the ostrich burger and a couple of Troegs Nugget Necters, which I must say were really good. So tomorrow will be a rest day. I will spend it building my Ionic I just got back,I should say it is a brand new replacemant for the one that broke twice. They hooked me up pretty well.
I guess it is time for bed so later.

last lap
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From Frozen to Thawed

My original plan for today was to go out on the road and do my interval workout. That was until Matt called me at 8:00pm last night and mentioned how cold is was going to be today. This meant we cold ride the trails. I mean, I can do intervals tomorrow so how could I pass on the opportunity to ride my single speed in the woods. We planned on meeting at 8:00am so we could get as much frozen trail time as possible. When I was on my way to the Possum Hill lot Todd called me to say he would be there but he would be a little late. The more the merrier. I got there about 7:45 a couple minutes later I heard a bell ringing, it was Andrew coming up the fire road. This is turning into quite a ride for a wed. morning. Matt shows up and we are off. We started down the trail and not even a minute into the ride I heard Matt yell FUCK. I turned around and sure enough he had just broken one of his egg beater pedals. It was ironic because I had broken one in the exact same spot, which was the last time I used egg beaters. So Andrew and I went on, we quickly ran into Todd who was coming the other way. He turned around and we were off. Todd and I took the skills trail, Andrew was riding his rigid SS an wasn't exactly used to it so he was waiting for us on the other end.

We headed to the boundary trail and went up the shorter but steeper side. When we got to the top Todd wanted to do the Pa side as an out and back, Andrew had to go so we parted ways. Todd and I were on our way back up and what do you know, it was Matt, he had gone home and put new pedals on and came back. Funny we had just lost one and then picked one right back up. We headed back to the main trails and I jumped in front. I wanted to see how my legs were feeling. I took off, and was surprised by how good I felt. We regrouped and headed back towards the parking lot. I asked if anybody wanted to hit Middle Run and everybody was game. Just as we were getting ready to take off Todd noticed he had a flat. This was his second of the day so he was done. Matt and I headed for MR and went on over to the Judge. It was really starting to thaw so we made a B line for the parking lot. It was a greta ride I ended up with 2:40 on my SS with some good friends. Not bad for a Wendsday.

And So It Begins

Although I tried I was unable to find anybody to share in my pain today. I started my intensity, and kicked things off with Power Hill Repeats. The object of these is low heart rate and low cadence while turning a big gear. I am supposed to do them on a climb that is no more than a minute long. Well I have a loop that's got two hills that fit the description. I put them into a loop of about 3 miles. Today I did 3 1/2 laps, that's 7 hill climbs, 4 seated and 3 standing. I was feeling pretty good during my little warm up, then I hit the first hill, OUCH. Pushing a big gear up a pretty steep hill while seated is a real bitch. I goota tell you though i kind of get a rush out of pushing myself hard. It was a good start to intensity. The other cool thing about doing these workouts is that they don't take long. 1 hour in and I was done. I decided to scout out a route for doing intervals. I needed to find a relatively flat road at least 5 miles long. I had an idea and wanted to see if it was going to work or not. I got on the road I was thinking of and the head wind slammed me right in the face. I am thinking, Yeah this will do just fine. So now I have all my work out routes planned.

When I got done and got home I wasn't feeling too bad. I was starting to wonder if I pushed hard enough. Then when I took the dogs for a short walk I realized my legs were killing me. I guess I did push hard enough after all. I will take off tomorrow, it's supposed to be shitty anyway.

Well that's about it for me so later.

Won't somebody please rub my belly?
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That's All Folks

Today was my last day of base miles. It was actually a rest week, but I am putting in my total base for the year. It is hard to remember back in January when I started base. I do remember feeling like I was never going to get into shape. My coach told me that you always have a break out ride, where it hits you. I had that ride about 3 weeks ago. I am feeling pretty good right now and really looking forward to the upcoming season. I only needed one hour today so I decided to hop on my Desalvo and head to the Laurels, some wooded double track. It was kinda fun, I got the hour I needed, I took it easy and I rode my single speed. The Laurels were a little wet but not too bad and unlike last time it was ridable.

My intensity starts next week, with the weather forcast it might even start tomorrow. I am trying to get some folks to join me in my suffering. It always seems better when others are hurting right along with you. There really isn't much else to say so I won't.