Getting Motivated......

It's only the end of October but already I'm getting excited about the prospect of racing next year. It probably means that I have had enough of a break after this years racing and it's time to get serious about the 2010 races. In a few weeks time I will pretty much have the races all scheduled out and will start to get back into the regular training schedule gradually increasing volume and intensity.

So when rides like this weekend's ride out from Bowie to the DCCX race come along they are well worth taking.....just easy rides taking in the back roads and trails through Prince's Georges County and into D.C to the Armed Forces Retirement Home. It wasn't a hammerfest and I think due to the bike trails we just about averaged 16MPH :-) Plus when we got there we were met with freshly baked scones, frites, beer and a ride home.....the cross action was cool, the primary spectator area had a load of cowbells (although I think Christine and Stu outdid everyone with their massive bell, somewhere there is a cow missing it's bell!) and it must have been a blast riding through it every lap. ABRT was well represented in all the races, with Christine Wehlburg grabbing another podium slot in the Women's Cat 4 race.

This weekend we travel to Pittsburgh for the MedExpress Spirit of Pittsburgh Half Marathon and then it's time to start hitting up the D'Ville Saturday ride again. It feels like an age since I have done a long group ride and it's also about time that the fixie gets going. Nothing like a 75mile fixie ride to get the legs going again :-)

Oh yeah and there might be some bigger news towards the end of the week.....stay tuned!

Just Some Ramblings......

The training has been real good these past three weeks since Eagleman....all guns are blazing towards Ironman at the end of the August. I can't believe it is July already! The past two weeks have averaged out at over 17 hours training per week and I feel as though I am hitting my Ironman stride. To be honest I am getting antsy to race Ironman, which must be a good sign!

I raced at Poolesville last weekend and as I had thought might be the case I didn't have any zip in my legs. Not that the accelerations were particularly hard but I just don't have that capability atm....the final few weeks before Eagleman and then the last three weeks have been pretty much steady state efforts and it's amazing how you lose the "jump". The road bike also felt odd as it was the 2nd time I had ridden it in a month! Despite that I managed to stay with the group and was beginning to feel better until I came down in the crash on the final section of dirt! My first ever crash in a race and fortunately nothing damaged on me or the bike. Rolled in to the finish a few minutes behind the winner.

The new job has been great so far. I am now about a month into it and love it! Getting to talk about bikes and providing for cyclists is a cool way to spend the day....it's just a little frustrating when you have little to no funds for pedestrian/bicycle programs. We do have the first free Bike Valet Service taking place in Annapolis this Saturday for July 4th. I am hoping that we get a good demand for this and it is something we can continue to provide at other City events.

Also slightly related to work, I am in the bike build mode again as I want to build up another fixie to ride around town. Rather than a training fixie this would be more of an urban fixie and hopefully something that people will be able to recognize....we need to build more of a cycling culture in Naptown! and what better way than having some whacky fixies about town!

180 RPM.......

180 revolutions per minute is what 40MPH on a fixed gear bike is (with a 46x16 gear ratio)! It's definitely one-way to work on the cadence but to be honest I got to 40MPH and the legs just wouldn't spin any faster and I had to brake before being thrown off....Unfortunately the rest of the group, besides Greg who was also on his fixie, continued to blast down the hill and we had a hard 30 miles 2-up into the wind to make it home (with no coasting!). With just about a month gone riding the fixie and nothing but the fixie, I would say that the legs are getting a great workout every time I ride.

Currently the weekends include the club group ride on Saturdays for a 70 mile total and then hill repeats on Sunday. During the week I have started to incorporate intervals to work on lactate threshold as well as sprints (esp. important as my sprint and jump suck!). I do have a slight break from the fixie if I get onto the trainer as I have the triathlon bike on there. As of yet I have only hit the trainer a few times. If it's not raining out then I always manage to hit the pavement rather than staring at the garage wall!

It must look pretty funny seeing a cyclist bundled up against the cold and then his legs spinning around at crazy speeds on the downhills....probably very cartoonish! With any luck I will have my road bike up and running by the end of January just in time for the first training races of the season and in time to start using gears!....we will see then the impact the fixie has had.

It Must Be The Off-Season......

It must be the off-season.....no longer are there sunny rides on the TT bike, the Blue has been put away for the next few months, it isn't getting close to any of the snow, ice or grit on the roads. Nope, the Fixie has arrived and for the winter months I'll be pushing 46x16 around the roads of Maryland (strength and speed work in one easy go!).....so far so good, I love riding the Fixie and above all, it's a synch to keep clean and in good working order!



I put the bike together over the summer from bits I had hanging around in the garage and cheap bits I managed to get from elsewhere. I didn't want to spend too much and in the end got it together under budget (I think I just heard Sarah shout "I doubt it!")