Tour de Sandston?

Saturday morning I met up with the TnT group.  We were leaving from the Food Lion shopping center in Varina for a nice 31 mile ride.  This ride is always a nice ride.  It is full of rolling farmland, airplanes and other various surprises often found along the way.  We started with a somewhat large group of 16 riders.

The way it turned out Susan Ann and I got separated from the group as we helped a newer member of the Team out.  We decided it would be best if we short cut the route in order to get back in front of them.  We would then ride the route backwards until we ran into them.  We would then jump back in.  Well that plan didn't go so well because the group missed a turn and short cut the route themselves.  Oops!

We eventually met back up about the 15 mile mark. While we were sitting at an intersection a young man drove by and rolled down his window to yell "Tour de Sandston, Wooooo!"  It actually made me laugh a bit.  Usually it is something along the lines of "get off the road" or a clever line questioning my sexuality. From there we finished up the ride together.  It seemed everyone had a good time and nobody mentioned getting sick from all of the surprise scenery.  At least no one mentioned it. Then again I was mostly likely the only one keeping track.  Sorry no photos this go around but for those of you who are curious the count was:

• 1 Turkey buzzard
• 2 Somewhat new Deer
• 1 Deer skeleton
• 1 Raccon

Tasting vomit

Wednesday and Thursday were a bit strange for me.  Wednesday, I had planned on getting some stuff done around the house and even find some time to ride outside.  Mother Nature being the big B that she is, threw a wrench into that plan with a day full of rain then sleet then snow back to sleet and then finally back to rain.  It didn't really matter anyhow because I was having a terrible time even staying awake.  A simple walk to the fridge seemed to really tax my energy stores.

Fearing I may be catching something I wanted to make sure I was well hydrated and started looking for some juice to drink.  We didn't have anything so I turned to the next best thing, Powerbar Endurance mix.  The rest of the day went like this; eat something, drink something, sleep, wake-up, pee, repeat.  All day long it was all I could do.  Thankfully, Thursday went a lot different as I felt like I had some energy, still didn't ride but at least I wasn't completely lethargic.

A quick look at the weather forecast for Friday had me once again optimistic I would be able to get outside and not have to ride the rollers.  With the morning sleet/rain storm which came through uninvited, I decided it would be a good rainy day project to organize the office closet.  Jenn and I have a bag for every athletic discipline we participate in which allows us to keep everything we need in separate bags.  We can then just grab the appropriate bag and go.  Very little searching for any gear has to take place. 

The problem lies in when you have so many bags and so little space to put them in.  The closest in the office has been a pretty good team player with all of the additional responsibility we have asked of it over the years.  It started off with just office type stuff in it.  Then came one bag, two bags, more bags and more random stuff.  Recently the closet started protesting the decision to hold more than just office stuff.  He didn't sign up for it he says and like any disgruntled prisoner who felt he had nowhere else to turn he started to fight with biological warfare.  Instead of throwing feces it just started to vomit on us each time we opened the door.

Tired of tasting last night's dinner each time I wanted to don my ruby red slippers, I took the morning to gut the closet and restore some order.  While doing so, I went ahead and made it aware his responsibilities have changed and he will now solely be responsible for keeping all of our bags neat and organized.  He tried to negotiate by asking for a "no random crap" clause but seeing how you aren't supposed to negotiate with terrorists, I made no promises.

Keeping with the getting some sort of workout out in each day theme which I started a long time ago on Sunday morning, I decided to squeeze one in yesterday prior to going into the shop.  I didn't have a tremendous amount of time once the decision was made.  Just an hour to setup the bike, get changed and then ride. That would leave me about 20 minutes to shower and put together a lunch to take with me.

I remembered how nice of a workout I got in on Sunday morning with the newly downloaded video from Sufferfest and thought about putting it on again especially since I was home alone.  I could play with my revolver all I wanted and no one would carry right?  Then it dawned on me, I was sitting right in front of big double windows in the living room which all my peeping tom of neighbors could see into if they looked out their windows.

They would probably wouldn't understand all the benefits of getting one's self all sweated up just to wave their revolver around all willy nilly for 48 minutes.  Combine that with a constant pain stricken facial expression they would probably call the authorities thinking I was going to do something drastic.  So I looked for other options.

I ended up going with the beginning of a documentary I haven't seen in awhile.  A friend actually asked me if I had seen it before just the other day.  I offered to let her borrow it but not before I watched it one more time.  The workout consisted of 40 minutes of steady state tempo riding.  I focused on keeping my cadence the same and not shifting.  I felt good and inspired once the time was up.  Check out the trailer if you have some time its been out for awhile.

Knife to a Gun Fight

The month of January seems to be in a hurry to come and go this year.  With the goals I have for this year I really cannot afford to let any time go by without getting my workouts in.  There just simply is not enough time between now and the last weekend of April. 

In trying to make a change in my regimen, I had to stop making excuses not to be on the bike.  Yesterday, I was working all day long and the football championship games on after work which meant most likely I would not be motivated to get in a late night session.  I got up with enough time to get in an hour long ride. 

I have been getting tired of doing the same three Spinerval videos and I went looking for something different.  I have heard good things over on Jason's blog, The Soiled Chamois, about the videos available for purchase from thesufferfest.com.  I decided to give The Revolver a go.



It was 48 minutes of pure feel good pain.  The longer the video went on the harder it was to recover from some of the intervals.  I certainly felt as if I couldn't have gotten a harder workout into such as short session if I tried.  Once in the shower and my stomach tried to give back its contents I knew I had truly showed up to the gun fight with only a two inch knife.

Yes, it is the morning

Ah, one more morning in which I have been lucky enough to wake up to.  Although this morning didn't go as I had hoped when I planned out my week in my head the other day.  I was scheduled to work this morning and was going to ride home after.  Instead, I was asked if I would be willing to switch a shift today.  I thought about going all semi-amateur, nowhere near elite athlete with my response by saying "Why would I even consider the thought?  My training comes first and foremost.  I cannot miss the session."  But instead I just replied with a simple "Why not"

Now that means I will not be able to ride tonight as planned unless I ride into work this morning and then again home tonight.  Morning rides/workouts just don't sit well with me.  I would much rather be overly active until I puke later in the day.  That way when I just want to lay around feeling dizzy and asking myself why I always push myself to the limit, I won't feel bad.

This morning however, I am going to try and break that mentality just this once and put in a session on the trainer.  Thinking about doing the Uphill Grind once again.  Normally I do these workouts on the rollers but out of the saddle intervals can get a bit sketchy on the rollers.  The trainer will allow me to do these without paying attention.  Which also means, I can push myself just that much harder.  I just hope this doesn't ruin my motivation for the rest of the day.

 View from a Confederate Breastwork on the way to Snowshoe

Dusk from the back porch of the Company House where we stayed

Tuesday Night Team in Training

Last night I left from my mother in law's house in the West End and rode over to Westcreek to meet the Team.  Worried about the weather I layered up and hit the road.  8.7 miles later I arrived at the parking lot to find the Team just about ready to roll.  They were putting the last few articles of clothing on.  This gave me an opportunity to cool down a bit.

Usually these rides are a strong test of how cold can you endure.  It was really nice to have such a balmy evening in January to be outside.  The lack of wind and the high humidity kept the temps feeling pretty true.  The workout felt pretty good despite how tired my legs and body still are from the weekend of skiing.  I haven't slept this well on 3 consecutive nights in what seems like an eternity. 

Even though I really should get back on the bike tonight, it looks like I am going to take the evening off and try to let my body recover and then I will be back on it tomorrow night.  At least that is the excuse I am going to use to sit around and try to finish up the book I started this weekend because the copy of Going the Distance I ordered two weeks ago still hadn't arrived prior to our departure.  It has since arrived and I cannot wait to dive into it.  Who knew I would enjoy reading so much?  Better question.  Who knew I could read?

Makin you a pizza pie

This past weekend, Jenn and I joined a few friends of ours on our 3rd annual long weekend in January getaway.  This year we (everyone but me,  I was indifferent) decided it would be a good idea if we got a cabin up in the Snowshoe resort area and went skiing.  I had never been skiing before so it was going to be a new experience.  One in which I was preying I wouldn't get hurt at.

We arrived up at the "Company House" where we would be staying on Friday night.  It is located inside of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.  The town of Cass used to be the center of a big timber industry.  Once the company left town, the state purchased the entire town and made it into a state park.  We unpacked the cars, made some dinner and enjoyed each others company into the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday morning we arose early to ensure we got our moneys worth on the lift tickets.  Once everyone was set we all stepped into the skis and away we went.  All I could think about was, damn there are a lot of people here and I hope I don't run into them.  Everyone kept telling me to "make pizza" whenever I got going to fast.  Pizza was easy to make, turning was not.  The first run went like this, turn to the left, turn to the right, turn to the left, turn to the right and blam!  Down I went.  I couldn't get off an edge and bailed before reaching the tree line.  The rest of the day I spent following Jenn down all the green trails doing my best to keep up with her.  I started to get the hang of turning without having to make the pizza but still didn't have the confidence to just let it go.

Around lunch time we stopped and ate lunch in the village.  I could tell I was getting tired and my knee was getting a bit sore, so I opted out of the next couple of runs while Jenn, Pantea and Mikey went racing down the diamond trails.  Once the trails were about to close, we all met back up and went back down so we could go back up to the "Top of the World" where we were parked.

Sunday morning brought on some soreness in my shoulders, hips, knees and calves.  Jenn and I made the decision to start the morning off over at Silver Creek since I had exhausted all of the easier trails at the main resort and I wasn't ready to try anything more difficult.  Silver Creek was a ghost town in comparison.  Jenn was able to help me learn to turn not in the pizza and we did a good number of quick runs since there was no waiting in lift lines.  Ski to the bottom go straight back up, no waiting.  After awhile Jenn and I started to take different trails so she could do the more challenging trails and I would stay were I was comfortable since they all ended at the same two lifts.

Lunchtime Sunday afternoon we left Silver Creek and headed back over to Snowshoe to meet Mikey and Pantea for lunch.  After lunch Jenn and I did a few more runs but not as many as in the morning due to the longer lines.  In one of the lines we saw a dad tell his son who was about to have an emergency to just pee his pants so they wouldn't lose their place in line.  The trails soon closed and we headed back to the house were dinner was prepared and I zonked out almost immediately after.

Yesterday, we awoke with just enough time to pack the car before check out and headed back home.  We had a great weekend and no one got hurt.  A little sore yesterday but this morning there really isn't any soreness except a small knot in my calves still.  Tonight if the weather holds off I will be riding with the TnT crew.  If it doesn't then I will try to get a roller session in.  Hopefully either one of those will get the knots out of my legs.

Every now and again I get asked about my training.  What do I do in order to ride longer? Do I do any cross training?  I must do something out of the ordinary, a secret regime maybe?  Nope, I have no secrets as the only one I live by is to ride more.  Anything more makes it seem like training to me and that isn't fun.  I just want to ride my bike.

Now one thing I have done over the last couple of years is I've tried to really learn more about MY body and how I need to take care of it so it will take care of all my crazy thoughts, hopes and dreams.  In doing so, I have started wearing a heart rate monitor on all my rides, learned about proper nutrition and started recording all my workouts in a journal of sorts.

A heart rate monitor will do a lot of good things for you no matter how in depth you wish to train with it.  I tend to only care about the basics.  I just want to know my current, overall average, average zone and the number of calories burned.  With that knowledge you can do more intricate workouts which require doing intervals in different zones.  If you are dehydrated and/or tired you will have trouble controlling your HR which could be a sign you should take it easy for a ride or you need a day to recover.  For a good read pick up a copy of Heart Zones Cycling by Sally Edwards.  I would loan you my copy by Sage ate it shortly after I was done reading it.

Knowing how many calories I burn on the bike is an eye opening experience.  On a few hour ride it is conceivable I will burn more than half of the calories I intake in a day.  I am a believer and supporter of Powerbar not just because they are a believer in me but because they really try and do their best to support all levels of athletes.  They have a number of great articles published on their website along with a page full of health calculators. I do not know how much I would trust the calculators as gospel but they do a nice job of getting you in the ballpark.  Once in the ballpark you just need to find your seat. I recommend reading through the articles when you have a chance.

The only other thing I do is record my workouts.  In the past I never took the time to do it. I also never really learned or better yet retained what I learned on any given ride until I made the same mistake again.  I was introduced to the Dailymile about this same time last year by a friend and it proved to be a great tool.  It has been appropriately called the "Facebook of workouts".  It provides you an easy way to record everything about all your workouts.  There are basic reports which summarize your work but for me the two most important aspects of it are I can go back and reflect on how I handled certain conditions and it also provides some inspiration and motivation by surrounding myself in the cyber world of athletic friends.

With any of the above, you can get as nerdy with the information as you want.  From the sound of it I suppose I am in denial of just how nerdy I am about the health side of sport and life.  I'm having fun with it which makes it a nice place to be.  Now back to my regularly scheduled day of no training just having fun while staying active.

Time to get away

As promised, I was able to get in a workout the other night on the rollers.  I didn't have enough time to get in a double dosing but I did get in 45 minutes of grinding up hills.  I can certainly tell that my leg strength is coming back to me pretty quickly but I still have a long way to go for my cardio to be there.

This weekend won't bring any riding for me.  Instead it is time for Jenn and I to take our 3rd annual trip with Mikey and Pantea on an outdoor adventure where we may or may not get eaten by a bear, fall into an icy lake but most certainly will freeze our butts off.  Last year we rented a cabin in Fairy Stone State Park for the weekend. 

This year I am a bit nervous but very excited as we have once again rented a mountaintop home in the valley near Snowshoe.  I have never skied before which is a bit intimidating.  I'm sure things will be OK I just hope I don't hurt myself or others with my first time awesomeness.  I still haven't located my insurance card  because I haven't looked for it but when I do, I am going to attach it to the front of my jacket along with my lift pass.  Wearing it like a shield should keep me safe, no?  Jenn also thinks I should wear my RoadId so if I get myself stuck in the snow they will be able to identify my body in the Spring once everything thaws out.  Needless to that is negative talk but I will most likely do it because she is smarter than me.

Keep an eye out here and over on twitter this weekend for updates and pictures.  According to twitter you do not have to have an account to follow.  All you have to do is text "follow RidesAnAntique" to 40404 and you will be following me.  Now you have no excuses.  Of course if you do have an account you really didn't have a viable excuse anyway. 

Its a flyin

Whether you like or even realize it, time continues and will continue to fly by at breakneck pace.  After taking the last couple of days off to rejuvenate, my plan for last night was to come home, grab a small bite to eat and then begin a workout.  With the uncertain weather conditions it looked like most likely it would be inside on the rollers. 

I was also asked to write up a short little bio type introduction for the newest cycle teams I will be coaching for Team in Training.  Never having to do something in a recent amount of time, it certainly took much longer than anticipated. Do I put this in? Do I not?  Does the wording make me sound egotistical? Does anybody care?  All of which kept running through my head as I wrote, read, edited, read, deleted, rewrote all night long.  I finally got it to a point where I felt it put my experiences in a good light and hopefully my words don't make me appear as a jerk.

Before I knew it, the midnight oil was burning.  I gave a late night workout a very short thought before deciding to just head to bed.  Tonight will certainly bring a workout.  Maybe back to back Spinervals?

Stop Go Pennzoil

Yesterday morning I had a couple of thoughts which led me to commuting home for the first time this new year.  First, I was itching for a ride. Second, I didn't really feel like driving home from work by myself or waiting around while Jenn was doing her thing at EF.  Le Antique was put into the back of the Highlander and Jenn dropped me off at work which left me with no other option but to get myself back home via the cold windy open roads.

Once I was on the road, I didn't really want to try to push it too hard even though I have done three workouts with Coach Troy in the past week.  His workouts work but not that fast.  It's a good thing I wasn't looking to get in a hammerfest because traffic just wouldn't allow it.  Seemed as if all the lights were red which made me think I was starring in one of the old Pennzoil commercials.  "Stop, Go, Pennzoil"

As I was approaching the bridge, I hit a pothole and my rear light went shooting off the back.  A quick glance back and I saw it made it all the way across two lanes of traffic to the median without being smooshed. I paused for a minute, waited for traffic to clear and then retrieved the light.  I should have taken this first jumping attempt more seriously as the way things panned out, the Mars 3 would make another attempt when the time was right.  The second attempt took place as I crossed the railroad tracks at Huguenot and Robious.  The timing of this attempt would prove to be a fatal one for the Mars 3 as once I heard it hit the ground, my quick glance saw it explode into many pieces under the rear tire of a big SUV.

I will surely miss that light as it has been with me for a long time.  Now that I look back it was the oldest light I owned as every other one has met a similar unfortunate fate. Please join me in remembering such a loyal ride partner.

The Distance

Every once in awhile I get the urge to read a good book.  Now I cannot read about vampires, wizards or elves but what I read about usually consists of recounts of everyday heroism and leadership which may come as a surprise.  The other night I awoke around 2 in the morning and couldn't fall back asleep.  Instead of consistently flipping over and annoying Jenn, I went out to the living room in hopes a little tv would help me fall asleep.  Nope that didn't work either. 

Reading almost always puts me to sleep so I grabbed the laptop and started surfing the interwebs.  It started off doing research on races for 2011.  Which ones I want to do which ones I don't.  I came across the Ring of Fire Time Trial which takes place in Oregon.  It happens to take place one week prior the Adirondack 540 which is a RAAM qualifier I have been eyeballing for about a year now.  Both races have a lot of appeal to them for me which I will get into on a later post but needless to say I spent some time on both sites going through every page race descriptions.  Which is where I found out who the race promoter of Ring of Fire is.

I started reading the story of George Thomas over on the Ultracycing page where John Hughes did a review of a book called Going the Distance.  The story intrigued me so much I went searching for a copy of it.  In the Google search, I came across a preview of the book in Google Books.  I started reading it.  After reading the Foreword, I was worried I wouldn't be able to stay awake long enough to read the entire preview which covered the first two chapters of the book.  I couldn't put it down and was saddened by the fact I had to stop as I reached the end of the preview. 

The book is an amazing story of a man who is denying all the research which has ever been done on epilepsy in the medical world.  The story follows George through the 1995 edition of the Race Across America.  A race I one day am qualified to take part in.  I could go on and trying to tell the small part of the story which I know but in no way do I think I could do it justice.  Best get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Caving in the New Year

With the new year beginning, I haven't made too many resolutions.  I haven't really been a person in the past to need a "new year" to do something different.  I usually do not do too many things that do not work repetitively.  It's one of my faults really.  You see, I am lazy and do not like doing things more than once.  I want to get the task completed so I can relax. 

One thing I am looking to change though is the regularity of my blog posting. This past year the posts have been pretty scarce since I wasn't ride much therefore I didn't have very many interesting rides.  I am also being pushed pulled into the modern day social networking realm.  I am still holding out on starting a Facebook account but I did at the request of one of my title sponsors for 2011 open a Twitter account.

I choose it just because it seemed a little bit easier to integrate into this blog.  If you haven't noticed already there is a small box to the right in green which will hold all of my most recent tweets.  Feel free to click the link below to follow me.  I am on a mission to reach Ashton Kutcher like twitter status.  I mean why not right?  If you are going to have a goal might as well set it high.

By TwitterButtons.com