Fitness/training

My youngest son, Sid, comes running into the house yelling; "Come watch me Dad, come watch me Dad!" "I can jump on my bike just like Jake!" It only took me 45-seconds to get outside and he was already showing off for the neighbor girls. When he saw me, he ran towards me as fast as he could next to his bike almost tripping as the pedals hit his leg. He was so excited I don't think he even noticed. When he got close enough, and after a quick look to make sure I was watching, he jumped on his bike just like a little cyclocross racer. He only rode it for a few feet before jumping off.

Although later than most of my fellow racers, I started training for the 2008 season today. With a less than stellar cross season I feel like I need to redeem myself on the road. The Rio Grande is also really into sponsoring our team and has big hopes for all of us. The crew is as strong or stronger than any team I have ridden on so I have big hopes as well. To do my part I hit the road for a mellow 2 ½ hour ride over rolling terrain with the weather windy and in the high 30’s. My new Orbea bike is pretty sweet and although I need to get a bike fit, it still feels fast.

That’s what a group of 13-14 year old dirt jumpers yelled to me at the dirt jump park yesterday. I think they were skipping school and digging dirt to make the jumps bigger. The whole situation made me laugh and it reminded me of a funny e-mail my mom sent me last week. It was in response to the post about the new cross bike Einstein’s/MOB gave me. In my post I said it was a “sick bike” and she thought it was a spelling error.

I have been running twice a week for about three weeks now and it still hurts every time. As I’m out there, I wonder why anyone would do this unless they were being chased. At least it’s starting to hurt less, but I still wake up in the morning with sore muscles I didn’t know I had. It’s mostly little ones around my calf that you don't use when you ride a bike. Running isn’t all bad though. It’s nice to get a good work out in such a short amount of time. In fact, it’s probably safe to say, you can get the same benefits in a quarter of the time of riding your bike.

Well I did my ride on this rainy Saturday. I’m really glad I went out and didn’t ride one of the trainers in the basement. I only got wet for the first 30 minutes and then it started clearing up. Since it was an easy day I decided to take the camera along and stop whenever I felt like it. I stopped a lot as there was a lot of cool stuff out on the road. The roads often times look about the size of a bike path and when a car is coming at you it feels like it might hit you. The countryside is beautiful and every little town has a church that stands tall for all to see.

Earlier we talked about what we do for the pre-race. Now let’s talk about some post race ideas to help you get recovered and gain the full benefit from your ride. It’s all about recovery!!! If you don’t recover properly from a hard ride you’ll end up tired and burned out, not in better shape.
1) Consume some recovery drink within 20 minutes and eat some real food within the hour. This is the optimal time for your body to absorb the nutrients. It’s been shown that a 4 to 1 ratio of Carbs to Protein is the best. This can be as simple as chocolate milk or more specific like Endurox R 4.

The rain has been coming down like crazy here on the Front Range. There is flooding all over the place and I sure as hell wasn’t riding outside. You know, one of those days your glad not to be a bike messenger. So like usually, when the weather is bad I head down to MOB Training Center and chase the Euro pro’s on the big screen. Although I was doing some really intense intervals, I still couldn’t get any closer to them. It’s like I was mounted in the same place or something. Oh wait, I was. The workouts always feel harder inside than they do outside and my butt gets sore way faster.

The last two days of training have been really hard and I have two more to go before I get a break. The easiest of the four is tomorrow which is 3 hours and includes 10 short intervals. I’m starting to feel a little better during the intensity which is a nice change. I missed my entire interval training last season due to the crash in Mexico. I basically raced myself into shape. That method works in a pinch but not as good as training specific zones individually. Last year my legs felt flat most of the time and my explosive power was lost. If I can make it through this week and recover properly I should see some big improvements.

I first heard the word at a race in Belgium. Some sort of mystical ability that the top riders have? Loosely -- very loosely -- translated as suppleness, but so much more.

I've sensed it in the pedaling action of some of the super-fast pro track riders; got some feel of it in my own legs on late-night "twiddles" home on an extremely low gear after watching said riders. There's a sense of connected flow, as well as speed, relaxation, power and... well, suppleness.

Well, we had a few nice days of weather in Boulder, but it's gone again. And since I'm not down in Arizona getting ready for Valley of the Sun like some of my teammates, I have to jump on the rollers again.