December 2009 Entries
Something is wrong. You just don't feel like yourself and the zip is gone. For whatever reason, your body appears to be in fighting mode. Should you continue to train as normal, cut back or stop altogether? Do a "neck check". If your symptoms are runny nose, scratchy throat or sneezing (all symptoms above the neck), start your workout but reduce the intensity to zones 1,2 or low intensity and shorten up the duration. If you feel worse after the first few minutes, stop and call it quits. If the s
The winter months often bring cold, windy, rainy weather – the kind of weather most cyclists don’t like to ride in. Unless you have a ride partner to help get you out the door for your next training ride, it’s likely you won’t go out and brave it on your own. So what’s a cyclist to do?
Read the rest of the tip...
Of course it snowed. We were expecting it. It always snows at Nationals, accompanied by ice and frozen ruts. Sometime during the event, a blizzard comes along and blows away the tents. Cross is a winter sport and snow is normal for a winter sport. If you went skiing and it snowed would you be surprised? So deal with it. Or that's my official attitude.
Read More...
I am a recently retired 53-year-old male with 30+ yrs of riding and racing under the belt. Residing in the Albany area of NY (due to previous employment), I get out on the road in March to maybe late October (depending on weather). At the spring/summer peak I put somewhere between 150-250 weekly miles with workouts spreading the gambit, of LSD, steady state, LT threshold, power intervals and hill repeats.
This week the town of Bend, OR hosted their 2nd national championships of the year with Cyclocross nationals for all ages: juniors, masters and elites... This week, temps hit minus 20 overnight, which was another record! We arrived Wed. late afternoon in time for a couple laps of the course before dark. It was about 15 degrees and most of the course was covered in snow. I now had 2 days to learn how to ride in snow! ... Read More
...Kerry decided to go about a foot to the left of the gap and bunny hop the curb. I was right on her wheel and thus could not really see the curb and was just expecting to ride though the gap. I didn't really have time to react when I saw her bunny hop and I hit the curb pretty hard with my front wheel. Luckily I was leaning back enough that I didn't endo, but it made for a pretty squirmy landing back on the loose, soft mulch. At first I thought I might have flatted... Read More...
I happen to be lucky enough to work 10 miles away from home. I ride to and from work 5 days a week. I really keep my pace brisk and have a hard time going slow. Like most dedicated roadies I'm sure.
I was wondering how to incorporate strength training into my two a day riding sessions? Do I add workouts to already tired legs? Do I take a day off of the bike and concentrate on weights? Your thoughts? ... Read the Answer
This is a classic course and similar to the one that was used for the USGP of CX in 2005. It has a bit of everything: 200m pavement start/finish, some flat power sections, loose turning sections, small sand pit, 2 run-ups (one with a barrier at the bottom) a double barrier and a couple of very short climbs. The most treacherous part was a new for 2009: a deep, steep sandy descent right into the 2nd run-up that got more and more churned up as the day went on. ...Read More
It was a perfect day at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco -- 70 degrees, a huge turnout of racers, and a cheering crowd high on, um, well cyclocross I guess.
In my 55+ race, the dawn prelude to the day's racing, I got away with the juniors again. This time I got edged out by some kid from Santa Cruz -- sorry don't know his name -- who got in front of me over the last set of barriers. Actually I think that this is kind of great. The juniors should certainly be beating me. ...Read More
I've recently become more reliant on my trainer to get in enough cycling time during the week. I often find myself sitting upright in the saddle instead of being in proper position. Is this bad for my form?