Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Weds 4/20 - easy SM to Work

Took the train and did a quick easy 35 mile ride from San Mateo to work with the Google group, staying away from the front with great tactical astuteness. Put on knickers and brought out the Red Lemond to enforce "knocking around" feel and went out on the Moffett dirt as well.

Now, 5 days off! Well earned, 2135 miles year to date.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Tues 4/19 hard skyline

Did a nice Skyline today adding in the Hallmark/Crestview climbs - series of steep rollers up above San Carlos. Great intervals.

In theory we weren't going to ride that hard, but we had Peter the Sandbagger, Xton the machine, and a surprise appearance by Space, and the riding was pretty fierce. But I felt very very good, able to pick up my speed, chase gaps, whatever. That's all good, but is that because we are riding slow?

The Strava log says we were going at a nice clip, thank you. The Hillsboro section was done into a stiff wind, and I went under 7 minutes despite being on the front until the last steep roller then being picked off by Peter attacking. We started out slow on Polhemous, then I went to the front and pulled the entire way up the flatter section, and PR'ed, including taking some time off the PR for the "steep section". We rode very fast on Foothill and this was not problematic. Faster and felt much much better than last week's OLH. Stress, then rest. Will perhaps get out tomorrow and then a vacation in Illinois where I will try to sleep a lot, stretch, and not get much exercise other than maybe a short jog or two. And try not to fatten up on my in-law's cooking.

Friday, April 15, 2011

4/15 - short spin from San Carlos to work

Yesterday I slept in and did a quick spin on the Steven's Creek/Moffet/San Tomas paths with Ammon. Today in theory I was going to "ride hard" with the SF2G ride, there was a "fast" ride and an "almost as fast" ride leaving at the same time, but I was awakened at 5:30 AM by my son and really wasn't up to getting out, and I had to still clean my bike from Wednesday's festivities. So I ended up on the 7:44 AM Caltrain and tried to cut them off for a shorter but still hard-ish ride. I got off in San Carlos and started soft pedaling. Of course, this ended up such that the front group caught me right at Google. I said "Hi", and went back to the dirt.

197 miles this week per Strava and I feel very beat up. It probably would not be so bad if I were getting more sleep and time to stretch. I'm taking the weekend off, then planning to ride very very hard M/T/W because I am then going to Illinois to sit on the couch, sleep in, and eat Easter food (trying to limit the Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs). That should be a good rest to set me up for the next round.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Sub 22 OLH

Went out for a ride this AM and included going up Old La Honda for the first time in 2-3 years probably. I met the group coming down from the city at the top of Jefferson, having skipped the 6:15 AM rollout to take Caltrain to RWC.

Frankly I felt pretty crappy from Monday's ride and not really taking it easy on Tuesday, so I was being a bit of dread. A really slow time would piss me off.

Found the group and we made it to the hill. I took off at the bottom but it just didn't feel right. There were several spots where I really felt like just giving up and crawling to the top, never really felt any snap. I pushed it in the flat section in the middle and into the first set of steep bits between there and the redwoods, and was punished for this. I was really reduced to crawling around the two "Upenuf" roads. Just felt crappy and slow.

Using the Garmin as a timer and relying on Strava for the update, meant riding the rest of the way home without knowing the result. And of course then it started to rain. Brooks, Thorpe, Beckett and myself slogged up to Page Mill, then Thorpe and I rode to 9. I was feeling very skittish about the braking and the wet roads so I took it very easy down the first half of Highway 9, then started to (A) Warm up and (B) feel the traction wasn't so bad, and picked it up a bit - it would have been fun if it wasn't so cold. From Saratoga to work was an exercise in hypothermia.

Got a Hot Chocolate, a shower, and some food, then went to get the "bad news".

Old La Honda - (Bridge to Mailboxes) 21:52

Once upon a time I set a goal of getting up in under 22 minutes, and if I could do it, I would buy myself a Seven. Coming off the Memorial Day ride - 350 miles in 4 days, then a day off on Monday and Tuesday, I went up on a Wednesday with perfect temperatures and nice rest, and summited in exactly 22 minutes. I rode down the hill, right to the bike shop, pointed at a Seven and said "I want one of those".

Today, cold, wet, annoyed, tired, unsnappy, underslept, at 8:30 AM, I went up 8 seconds faster. I won't complain. I doubt I'm under 20 minutes in perfect conditions but I won't jump in the grave yet.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

4/11 Calaveras. 4/12 Bayway

Monday I went out with Brooks Sizemore and did a rapid Calaveras run from Dublin to Nvidia. 2:18 clock time from West Dublin BART to work, no stopping to screw around, with a pack on. Very good workout, had to keep myself pinned to Brooks' wheel as best as I could - he sat up on the Calaveras climb so we could avoid any stopping and I had some trouble on the roller/technical sections headed towards Milpitas.

Tuesday I took it easy, slept in and helped with some laundry, then set out late to chase a slower SF2G group, catching them at the Water stop. They were in no hurry to leave, and we had a flat, so I stopped off at Redwood City to Caltrain to MV. A good restful ride in general.

In theory tomorrow we're going to go up Old La Honda itself, then head down Skyline to Highway 9 to descend to work.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

4/6 - Jefferson and Los Altos Hills

Our son was sick last night and we got very little sleep. I had to bail on a planned ride over to Pacifica and South to Half Moon Bay and up Tunitas Creek for the first time in who knows how long. I groggily got up at 7 AM and headed to the train, leaving my bag at home thinking about getting in some sort of ride.

I got off at Redwood City and rode 30 miles starting with the Highland/Jefferson climb, a climb I have been doing occasionally and is probably the best benchmark I have for climbing right now.

I decided to take it out in the 150's HR and then ramp into the 160s after the 5 way stop at Lakeview. Well, I ended up going right into the 160s and held it there the whole way. I do think I started out a little fast, but whatever, it felt good. I ended up setting a PR by a whopping 3 seconds - exactly 10 minutes. Over 10 minutes, 3 seconds could be anything. I really hoped to see a marked improvement given I have been riding a lot and am down a few lbs, but it was a strong climb and I'll take it. Certainly there is going to be some plateau anywhere. And it's not like I was really well rested!

It's supposed to rain Thursday, I'll see what I can do and hope to plan for some Friday riding.

Monday, April 4, 2011

4/3/11 - Solid Bayway

Did a solid 55 mile Colmaway with a largish (18) group. The theory was a relaxed Monday ride, and on the whole it was, but with a group of this size you are bound to see a few instigations. Fun, and since it was warm I threw in the dirt sections around Moffett Field in tribute to the upcoming Paris Roubaix. Riding hard on the dirt really numbs my hands - those guys are incredible. A lot of the time all I needed was to shake my hands out but on the strada bianche I really needed my hands on the bars to keep control.

In theory we're going up Tunitas Creek on Wednesday so tomorrow will be easy or off.