Peak Performance Time Trial

Today was another time trial. It’s part of the Peak Performance Time Trial Series, and even though I won’t be doing all of them, I like to participate in the more local ones. Since this one was basically in my back yard, like the LL Bean Time Trial, I signed up to participate.

With the course only 10 miles away it made sense for me to just bike there in an attempt to warm and open before the event. I was on track until I came upon the Casco Bay Bridge in it’s open position and I hoped it wouldn’t be long before it opened up again. It was a delay I had not planned on and hoped it wouldn’t make me miss the check in time.

The Casco Bay Bridge in it’s upright position.

This was the reason for the open bridge – an oil tanker coming in to dump it’s load.

Luckily I arrived in plenty of time to check in. I found a friend who I didn’t know was participating and we rode the loop together. Even though it’s a pretty flat loop, as compared to the LL Bean TT a month ago, but it has a lot of false flats that I felt challenging. The course was approximately 6 1/2 miles long and we rode it twice for a total of 13 miles.

It was also in the opposite direction of the Prout’s Neck Loop, which is a popular route of cyclists in the area. It’s always interesting to ride a loop in the opposite direction to give you a different perspective on the terrain.

My start time was 8:23 and I was bound and determined not to miss it. I probably even stood around a little too long and cooled a bit but I wasn’t going to leave in the event I’d miss the start. (Ted Darling, who started after me at the last event saw me and asked if I was going to miss my start time today – I assured him I would not!)

As soon as I got on the course I approached the first turn. Unfortunately there was some dimwit directing traffic, and poorly I might add, to the point that I had to slow in order to make the turn. (On the next lap I had to do the same and take the corner even more cautiously because the guy directing traffic wasn’t even looking at me and I was afraid he would wave someone into my path.)

My husband captured the disgust on my face.

The winner for the women was a friend of mine, Marianne Stover.

Marianne Stover with a finish time of 32:09.63 (an impressive avg speed of 24.82).

The men’s and overall winner was Fred Thomas.

Fred Thomas with an impressive finish time of 27:06.25 (a mind spinning average speed of 29.4mph).
  

My finish time was 38:58.38. That put me in 6th position in a field of 9 in my age group. (Unfortunately they have me listed in the Men 35-44 and I’ve sent an email to have them correct this. It’s also not the first time this has happened at a local time trial.)

The weather for the upcoming week looks to be very conducive for riding. I need to get some saddle time this week in preparation for Lake Auburn Saturday. 

CCCP Memorial Day Ride Video

How to Dry Wet Cycling Shoes

I don’t ride much in the rain or in wet conditions. Sometimes I ride on wet roads but the use of boot covers do a nice job at keeping my feet dry.

Wednesday was a different story. My teammate, Meg, is moving away and we had decided to have a “farewell ride” for her. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very nice for riding but Meg wanted to ride rain or shine. And rain it did.

So we went out for about 20+ miles. About 5 miles in my feet got wet. It was the soggy kind of wet where you think there is about an inch of water in your shoes.

I had heard about a trick of putting newspapers in your shoes to absorb the water. It doesn’t sound like it would work well but I’m here to tell you it does!

In preparation for the Friday morning coffee ride I went to check on my shoes and they were still soaking wet, even though I had taken out the insoles after the ride Wednesday night. So I stuffed them with crumpled up newspaper for the night and hoped for the best. 

8 hours later I pulled out the newspaper and were shocked to see how dry they were. It really worked well. 

I never made it on the Friday morning coffee ride today. It was raining when I went to leave. One soggy ride this week was enough for me. I’ve had two consecutive days off the bike due to the rain and this might prove detrimental with the upcoming Time Trial on Sunday. Tomorrow should be a better day and I’ll have to get in a decent ride to work the kinks out of the legs prior to Sunday morning.

Annual Memorial Day Ride

Yesterday was the 6th annual CCCP Memorial Day ride in the White Mountains of NH, and my third year participating.

I was very excited for this almost 85 mile ride with almost 6000 feet of climbing for a few reasons: this ride always makes me stronger, I love the people on this ride, my husband was driving the sag wagon, and the weather was supposed to be perfect. Well, except for the fact that it was windy as all get out, which I didn’t realize until we started. Predicted gusts of 30 mph – not fun, but I was on my way and not turning back.

The Departure

4 of us piled into the car and left our house at 7:30 for the 1+ hour ride to Fryeburg, the start location of the ride. Upon arrival I realized that I had forgotten my kit jersey at home. What a bonehead move! Instead of wearing it to the event, I decided to wear a t-shirt instead and change when I got there but I forgot to throw the jersey in my bag.

This is what I was supposed to be dressed in:

This is actually how I looked:

Luckily another rider had brought extra jerseys – it would have sucked to have done the ride in a t-shirt!

After a brief “meeting” and group photo we were on our way.

The Climbing

There were about a dozen of us that chose the alternate route that took us in through North Conway to rendevoux with the main group that rode up over Hurricane Mountain Road, which averages 10% grade with a maximum of 16%. They traveled up the steeper side and it’s a two mile climb. Yeah. I’m never going to try to bike it. It’s not so much the climbing as it is the descending for me.

Taken by my husband as he followed the group up over Hurricane Mountain Road.

After a brief stop at the Red Jersey we were on our way. The group stayed together with a moderate pace until we turned onto Route 16. I struggled early on when so many riders passed me. A club member, Fred, asked how I was feeling. I said I should be this spent so early on. Then somehow I found my legs and I was able to stay with the group. Or at least until the same spot I lost contact last year.

The wind was brutal on the ascent of Pinkham Notch. However, it seemed nothing compared to the descent. I have never been so tired from a descent in my life. The wind would either blow you to one side or another, or even bring you to a hault from the head wind. Not only was it physically taxing, but mentally taxing, too.

I was happy to get half way down the descent of Pinkhams Notch to realize I had gone down the steepest section already. The same section that terrified me the past two years didn’t seem so bad at all. I’m definitely getting more comfortable on the descents!

50 miles in I had a friend that flatted. He grabbed a tire from the sag and everyone went by us when he was changing it. I chose to stay back with him, as we had talked about riding together. After such a long break it took me a while to get my legs under me again. By the time we got onto Evans Notch they were back and ready for the climb.

Evans Notch is my favorite climb I have ever ridden. We acsend the Gorham, NH side and descend the Maine side. It’s a small incline for most of the way. I just found my rhythm, as I often do on this climb, and just held a steady pace. My friend was struggling a bit and I made him sit behind me. He dropped off a couple times and I soft pedalled until he was back on my wheel. (On a side note, the header photo of the top of this blog was taken of this same friend, James, on Evans Notch two years ago.)

Right before the grade kicks up, he told me to go ahead, to catch and pass the few riders in front of us. I asked him if he was sure, I wouldn’t have left him but I would have told him the same thing if the situation was reversed. So I forged ahead alone, passed three riders, and finished the climb strong. Though I didn’t remember the steeper section being quite so long.

Again, I handled the descent off Evans better this time around. Then it was a long trip back. It’s always the last 15 miles that are the worst. There are a few rollers that seem to just kill the legs. Then you have the long flat sections along the potato fields where the wind blows. This time it was gusting and a few times we had to lean hard into the wind to avoid getting blown into the road. 

The Finish

I finished the day beating my average mile per hour slightly from last year. Not too bad considering all the wind. I also suffered no cramps on the ride – not even any hint of cramps. I tried to eat properly on the bike and did that a bit with the help of some shot block type chews. I made sure I drank a full bottle between stops and alternating between water and electrolyte drinks. Lunch consisted of a tuna sandwich because I knew it would have a good amount of sodium, though it was hard to choke it down. I find that during and after hard rides I can’t eat, even though I know how important it is. So it’s a matter of forcing myself to eat. I remember hearing a professional bike racer state that the worst part about racing is eating enough after the race. I could never understand that until now.

I simply love this ride every year. It’s one of the best rides I do all year. And I’ll do it again next year if it’s not raining. So far we’ve been lucky with three consecutive nice weather rides and I hope it continues.

 

 

A Quiet Week

After last week’s race, it’s been a quiet week. With my sights set on the Lake Auburn Road Race on June 6th it was prudent to back off this week in preparation. 

So I rode a bit with Stephanie and a teammate, Meg, Sunday and took off Monday.

Tuesday I needed to be on the bike for an easy ride. We had friends invite us to join them for dinner in Freeport so I thought I’d ride the bike 12 miles to the restaurant to meet them and my husband. It worked out perfectly. Then I rode back in the car. Not very often you can go for a bike ride and only have a tail wind!

Wednesday was the last day of the Chase Cycling Group clinic where we put all our knowledge of the past several weeks to use. It was a great ride followed by a nice BBQ at Stephanie’s.

It might have been a bad decision on my part, but I took Thursday and Friday off. When I went out on the bike today my legs were so flat and heavy. It’s hard to come off a rest week and feel crappy. You just want to dive in and ride hard again but your legs won’t let you.

I will be at the final crit series tomorrow morning. It’s a chance to open up more for the Memorial Day ride in the White Mountains Monday. I’ve done this for the past two years and looking forward to another year. I’m stronger this year but haven’t put in the kind of miles that might be required to completely 85 miles with 6500 feet of climbing. We’ll see how it goes. My husband it sagging so worst case scenario I have a ride. Though I’ll try not to use that as an excuse to stop riding.

I anticipate the upcoming week to be productive on the bike, as well as off the bike, as I am no vacation. It’s a much needed and long overdue break after not having a full week off since April 2008 when we went to the Tour de Georgia.

Lake Sunapee Road Race Recap

My race day started early at 4am for a 5am departure with a couple fellow racers, one a teammate.

It was a long 2+ hour drive. We arrived in time for a warmup under partly sunny skies and the wind starting to pick up.

The Cat 4 race start time was 9:36, one minute behind the Pro/1/2/3 field. Surprisingly the Cat 4 field was double the size of the Pro/1/2/3. Of course I’m sure many were racing in other parts of New England instead of at Lake Sunapee.

The race started off very civilized. We all stayed together in a speed up/slow down pace, which is highly frustrating at times, especially when it felt like the entire group came to a hault and I had to grab a lot of brake to avoid running into the girls in front of me. At one point I thought, “This is a race?” It felt more like the Friday Morning Coffee ride. But then again, we had a lot of hills in our way so taking it easy made sense. We even caught the Pro/1/2/3’s at one point. They had 2 laps (46 miles) in their race where we had half that so they were pacing themselves.

Lake Sunapee Race Profile.

Lake Sunapee Race Route

 

About 1/2 way down Route 103 we had a solo break. Katherine Snell of NEBC went off the front. My teammate, Meg, convinced everyone to let her go, knowing full well she wouldn’t be able to sustain the effort and would eventually blow up. So everyone decided to sit in and conserve some energy early on.

There was a crash before turning onto Route 11. I witnessed someone overlapping a wheel and her front wheel got caught in a rear deraileur in front of her. Rider inattention? Not sure, but they both wobbled and went down, I assume taking out a few riders next to them and also behind them. That caused a gap and instead of looking back at the carnage, I got out of the saddle to close the gap or it was going to be tough catching back up.

My teammates were safe in the front but they didn’t know how far back I was or if I was in the crash.

After the turn onto Route 11 I managed to hang on with the main field. A break had gone off the front and my teammate was in it, though I didn’t know it at the time. If I did lose a little ground on the hills, I was able to descent pretty well to make up some ground. (Larger girls are able to do this due to gravity!)

I was able to catch a teammate, Teresa, and told her I was there. We rode together for a while and got in a pace line that was loosely organized. An approaching hill meant another loss of ground. I told Teresa to go with Amy Viara of IBC. She said she’d wait for me but I urged her to go with Amy, knowing she’d be a great one to ride with and someone that would get her over the climbs. (I later learned she went with her for a while but couldn’t hang on for the entire ride. Next time it might make sense for us to stick together. She’s super strong on the hills and I’m pretty strong on the flats so we might have made a good team together.)

I started working with another woman by the name of Marilyn. We took turns pulling but on the steepest climb at 15 miles in I dropped her, not intentionally, it just happened as I was just going at my own pace over the climb. So it was a TT effort by myself for most of the remainder of the race. Surprisingly enough, Marilyn came back up to me towards the end of the race. She proclaimed she had worked with a junior in the race and was able to catch up to me and then they went by me. I stayed with them a bit but was pretty spent from the solo effort. (I might have been better off soft pedaling for her to catch back up. We worked together well on the flats and I could have saved some energy, but you never can tell the fitness of another rider and what if I had waited and she blew?)

Back at the finish I took the corner in the roundabout well but just blew up on the power climb to the finish. I was barely able to pedal but still I stood up on the last kicker to the line for a decent effort.

I’m still waiting for the race results and will be a few days before they are posted. I’ll update this post with the results when I have them.

In short, I’m happy with the race and my performance. Sure I got dropped, but I was there for much of it. The toughest climb didn’t kill me, even though I thought it might at the time. I descend much better in a race situation, not focusing on the descent or the risks, but focusing on catching back up. I did find that I needed more gear descending but had the right gears for the climbs. I had a few cramps in my left calf when standing on some climbs but managed to keep them at bay. It was a good day and if I’m racing next year, this one will definitely make it on the calendar!

Update: I finished 24th out of 38 riders with 8 minutes and 36 seconds off first place. I’m happy with that and hope to do better next year!

The Scott Got an Upgrade

I have mentioned my husband’s bike, the Scott Speedster S30, previously. I’ve ridden in before and have been pretty impressed with it. Luckily my husband and I are about the same size so with a couple minor adjustments it’s a perfect fit.

After riding it I had mentioned to my husband that he should upgrade the 105 components to Ultegra. Part of me was just kidding. I have been riding Ultegra on my bikes now for a while and really like it a lot. The 105 components to me felt a bit clunky and rough.

To my surprise my husband took me seriously and upgraded this bike entirely with the new Ultegra SL groupo. I had also mentioned that I had thought some of upgrading my compact to a traditional double, though I still had reservations about my climbing abilities with a double as opposed to my current compact crank.

My intention was to try the Scott with it’s new upgrades as soon as possible. Unfortunately that took me longer than I had anticipated, mainly because I would immediately just go for the Aegis because it fits me like a glove and I know what to expect. Tonight was finally the night to ride the Scott.

Now, going from a fully carbon fiber bike to a fully aluminum bike, you expect it to feel different. You also expect to feel a lot more road vibration. I’m not going to tell you it was as smooth as my Aegis, but this bike is still a really sweet ride.

The new Ultegra SL groupo worked flawlessly and I really liked the double. Granted I wasn’t able to ascend any significant climbs but the ones I did ride, I rode well. At some point in the near future I’ll take it out to tackle some larger climbs to see how I do with it. If nothing else, it could become my training bike to work on my leg strength.

I was even tempted to take it with me to ride it at Lake Sunapee Road Race tomorrow, but I’ll go with the one I’m more comfortable, and the one I know I can climb with.

Commute Another Way Week 2009

Commute Another Way Week kinda snuck up on me this year.

For the past two years I’ve been big proponents of the annual event and tried to get coworkers to participate as well. Many live too far away to commute by bike and our office is in a rural area so public transportation is not an option, however carpooling is always an option.

So this year CAWW started on the last day of my vacation. Then there were training rides after work so I needed to be home quicker in order to participate. On my way to those training rides I saw many riders out commuting – a great sight indeed.

Now it’s Thursday and I really feel like a slug for not participating. Tomorrow isn’t an option for me either and it’s officially Bike to Work Day.

This time last year I had been commuting by bike for a couple months, off an on. I belive this also contributed to my burnout towards the end of the summer. Not to mention that commuting became junk miles for me.

With my racing plans this year I had to be selective of my bike miles and make every mile count.

Still, I do miss commuting by bike. I’ll have to do it now and again this season. There is nothing like the feeling of biking to work early in the morning when traffic is light, the sun is low in the sky, and everything is still with only the sounds of the birds in the trees. (That is when I’m going slow enough so as to avoid the rush of wind in my ears.)

Coming off the Easy Week

After a rest week I’m really struggling to get back on form this week. This is really frustrating for me because I was feeling and riding so well before the break.

I had a decent showing at the TT but I wonder if I had been faster if I had been more open throughout the week.

I struggled on the ride last night. My legs just felt a little flat and definitely rubbery going up over a couple hills.

So tonight I wanted to keep on track to open back up. Unfortunately the weather prediction was for rain – showers in the morning but steadier rain in the afternoon. I had planned on hitting the trainer instead of riding outside.

On the drive home it was barely raining and had stopped completely when I arrived home. I thought perhaps I could eek out a real ride. After checking the radar, that’s exactly what I did.

There was a stiff headwind on the way out, which really sucked but I knew it would be fun on the way back with a tail wind. I just rode tempo for a few blocks of 10 minutes. Perhaps it was the tail wind on the way back, or the fact that my legs were actually becoming more fluid because it was much easier during my last block.

Tomorrow is the cornering clinic with Stephanie Chase. I’m so psyched for this one. I really want to become a better bike handler and with that comes better cornering. I’m going to need it for some late summer crits with more technical corners than what I’m currently riding.

The clinic should be an easy day with little to no intensity. I’ll try to hang on during the Thursday night ride and join the Friday Morning Coffee ride since I’m taking off that day from work. I’m truly excited because I love the coffee ride but seldom am able to participate.

With these rides in the plan I should be plenty open and ready to rock and roll in Bar Harbor this weekend. I’m even going to try the group ride Sunday morning, weather permitting. That will be a nice way to meet some new people.

LL Bean Time Trial Recap

I’m not much on time trials. I prefer the energy from group rides and racing.

That said, I know that riding time trials can make you a better/stronger rider. In short it’s good training.

After a warm up I went to the start line. I had 5 minutes to my start so I had time to run back to my car to ditch my leg warmers. Or so I thought. By the time I arrived back to the start line I found out I had missed my start. Grrr! That’s a bad start and a mistake that’s completely avoidable!

So the next three people went and then they started me.

Now, according to race rules, your time starts when your are scheduled to start, whether you are there or not. So I had already lost over 90 seconds by the time I hit the course. Trust me, this is a mistake I will never make again.

My goal was to average 18mph. I thought that would be attainable considering this hilly course with some rough pavement in places.

I was passed by countless riders. That’s what I expected. I was happy to see that only serious time trialists passed me. By that I mean that only those with disc wheels and aero bars or time trial bikes passed me. Surprisingly that didn’t discourage me. In fact, often times it gave me more incentive to keep pushing  on. Some who knew me, or recognized my kit as being the one for the club to which they belong, even gave me encouraging words.

I even had the pleasure of passing one rider. He was #272, the rider that started right after my time slot.

At one point I had a 19.3 mph average. I knew that wouldn’t last because there were a few climbs still to come.

I rode a strong tempo for the duration of the ride, keeping my cadence as high as possible and comfortable so as to not burn my legs out for the few hills at the end of the route. Though with 5 miles to go I felt myself running out of steam. I talked myself through it, urging my legs to keep the pressure on the pedals. (I hope the guy that came up behind me didn’t hear me yelling at myself! Doubt he did from the noise generated from his disc wheel.)

I forgot to stop my bike computer when I crossed the line so my average is a bit off. I’m happy to report it was 18.6mph. Now, to some that’s slow; for me that was pretty darn good and I’m happy with that. And it’s only May! I’m still waiting for the race results to post so I can get my actual time, minus the late start of course.

Tomorrow will be a good day in the saddle. I anticipate riding strongly after today’s effort. I’m looking forward to getting some decent training in this week after taking it easy last week.

Race results