tracking OF climbs

I'm going to start tracking OF climbs just for baseline.
Azure, rubbing brake, worn rear tire. calf, hamstring on left side hurting.

21:36 from fence to top. Felt really bad. I'm not sure if it is the pollen, coming off a good weekend and 2 workouts M and W, not used to position on bike, nutrition, etc. But I haven't felt this bad in a long time.

Left calf even cramped up within 10 minutes. I rarely cramp in training and if so not till many hours in. Breathing was very labored.

I think the key to climbing old farm is leg turnover. This is the ability to tick the legs over at good cadence throughout the whole thing. OF is not a steady grade, it is made up of many technical sections. In order to tick over through those sections you have to have the ability to maintain the gear you are in and spin up the legs and then recover while still under fire.

No doubt that I've got some strength but my best time is 5mins less. Today I tried to spin up the legs through some sections and I would just blow up over and over. This is all good as paying now means sooner or later the investment will come through.
on Azure, first time in a long time. In fact, just the ability to go hard enough to blow up such that I had to get off or just stop is a success in itself, in that it breaks through the typical self preservation mode. I think it was the pollen for combined with fatigue from the weekend and muscle fatigue from M and W workout.

I haven't been on the Azure in months and months. Wheel issues, brake issues, shock, etc. I can build a wheel but maybe not so great. I think something is wrong with the front, maybe spokes not tight enough. Still love the bike, but my timing is way off after being on the Hardtail for awhile. The 100mm fork and rear suspension had me zigging when I needed to be zagging. But when you zig when you're supposed to zig you can work with the shock and the terrain and get some free speed.

OF

note to self
19mins fencepost to top OF, hardtail, after a light rain, little wet. day after hardish ride, eating wasn't timed right

big gains

As I predicted, it was a good riding weekend in terms of fitness. Two weeks ago, I'd run myself in the ground with 4 consecutive hard/short rides. One week ago I felt terrible on the bike. No power, no energy, whole body having difficulty holding my body up on the bike. When that happens than every root, and every rock goings into you and it's the fatigue spirals up.

The whole past week though I hadn't been on the bike at all, which is a bad thing. No riding at all makes it take at least a few days to get the systems back in order and ready to go. So first day back, the legs are sluggish, but next day is good.

My whole body felt strong and was riding technically very well. On the hardtail, I was riding technically strong, but after two days on brush I was starting to feel the fatigue. The biggest limiter right now seems to be my mid back. The muscles just are fried and tired.

I'm not sure why this is a limiter now. I'm very strong these days in general from crossfit. The positive wave I'm on continued today with the CF Total which is Maxes in Squat, Shoulder Press and Deadlift. Squat I matched my best in 185 and I think could have gone higher. Shoulder press also maxed at 90 even with a bad shoulder, and PR'd Deadlift 295.

My speculation right now is that I am real strong in my quads and hips and can push a big gear. But all that power has to go through the low and mid back. I might have strength there, but maybe not the muscular endurance needed for multiple hours in a riding position, on rough terrain and pushing the gears.

1994 24 Hours of Canaan @ timberline

From my friend Denny. Me coming out of the trees onto the ski slope 1994 24hrs of Canaan.

good video on stans install

http://singletrack.competitor.com/2010/01/gear-and-tech/technical-faq/tech-faq-so-many-sealants_5696

Blocks

I've been running a new training program the last few weeks with the return of bikeable weather. It has it ups and downs but seems to be producing some worthy results.

3on(bike), 1on(CF), 1off, 1on(CF), 1off. I'd like to try 3on, 1 off, 2on, 1off

During the week I'll work out at cross fit, in the mornings if I can get out of bed. No coffee, no food, just roll out of bed and go. Works best for me that way, as long as I can get out of bed and the out the door.

Friday if possible, short ride. Sat and Sunday also. I've been unable to put any ride together longer than 2hrs though. I need to get some of that endurance back. The rides though are hard by design and course. Hills always. The third day is always hard, and uncomfortable. mid-lower back is starting to give way and it's harder to posture right on the bike so every thing hurts more.

Combining both types of training can get hard because they overlap in certain areas. Upper body isn't too impacted. My shoulders get a little tweaked mountain biking and my triceps. However, not so much that it seems to affect the other workout. Where it really gets me is in the hip flexor area and mid-lower back.

A 3 day block of riding leaves my mid back completely fatigued. This impacts my posture and is a real cause of slouching. My lower back has some serious knots in it but isn't tender or fatigued. When I put my Trigger Point ball under the mid back muscles and find the tender spot, it just takes my breath away, like jumping into cold water. I'm not sure what muscles area actually taking the brunt here, The seem to run vertically about 2 inches away from the spin. about 5" above the belt line.



The other area where I really get taxed from both workout types is in the hip flexor area. Both cycling and any of the olympic style lifting we do hammer these


The area that cycling really taxes too is my piriformis.

What I am seeing is that my Monday workout is tough due to the cumulative fatigue created on the weekend rides. By Wednesday I'm doing better. On Friday when I get back on the bike things are usually going ok but trashed again by Sunday. There is a macro 2 week cycle that I'm seeing. This shows up in defined crests and troughs. Any 3 day block for me crosses the line of 'overreaching' It's not overtraining but it's enough to require about 10-11 days till I'm fully recovered. Prior to that I can and do ride, but these rides never go very well. Whether I sat on the couch or rode, it wouldn't matter too much, come the 11th day as long as I've kept the legs spinning a little bit that I'm on a crest.

There will be one or two days every 2 weeks where I'm riding very well. Meaning perceived exertion is low but the power output is high. I see something similar in the gym too. Some days will be high, feel easy, and pulling big #s, others will be miserable and hard.

This is actually the point of event based training. The sweet science is coordinating those crests with your event. I don't seem to be overdoing it, but could see the potential to. I think that self limitation on the riding created from being pretty busy during the week helps me recover enough for the weekend block. At the same time the break from crossfit between Thursday and Sunday gives time to recover. The fine line though is the continual fatigue in the hips and mid back. It'd be interesting to see which element would tip the scales to overdoing it. Sometimes I do a mid week ride, never long but usually short/hard. I never do any recovery riding anymore.

Also of late, I've been wearing these compression sleeves after riding. My wife got them to help with a calf injury from running. I've commandeered them. I love them after rides. I think they look cool with shorts, sort of like I'm a freerider wearing some shin pads. Or I could like like an elderly man, like my dad who walks around in them in shorts.
they really work whatever they do.