Training Begins, Bring on the Doubles

[Veronica]

It's hard being back at work and trying to train. For AM workouts this week I managed to do Core one day, a Spinervals one day and yoga one day. I was exhausted at the end of every day, so there were no PM workouts. 33 fifth graders will wear you out!

Yesterday Thom and I drove much of the Knoxville Double course. I'm doing the staff ride 9/22. He's doing SAG the actual day of the ride, 9/29, on the motorcycle and we both wanted to see what we were in for. There is a lot of climbing, about 12,000 feet, but no really long sustained climbs, like Hamilton. I think Howell Mountain, the second climb of the day, will be the worst. Hopefully it won't get too hot on Knoxville Rd. MP was right when she described it as kind of creepy. We're starting at 4:15 AM. I'm hoping to finish before dark at 7:45 PM.

Today Thom and I did 30 miles. It was an attack fest. Once we warmed up we kept attacking each other on hills, on the flats, whenever. He's naturally faster than I am, but I can push myself longer above my lactate threshold than he can. So as long as I could stay with him until he gave up, I'd "win." It was a lot of fun, although kind of painful at times. Fortunately this was a rolling course, that we do a lot, with some definite recovery zones - downhills!

It was really cool doing 30 mph side by side on a road closed to cars. It's slightly downhill and usually has a tailwind. On the first of the hills, 1/2 a mile, 6% average grade, he caught up to me, but couldn't pass me. He hollers out, "What are you doing?" I replied, "Circles!" He's always telling me to focus on my pedaling action, yelling circle, circle, circle at me as we ride. I was doing 9.1 mph at the top of that hill. I'm thrilled with that, since I usually top it at about 6 mph or less.

Towards the end on a fairly flat, but slightly upward tending section, we did about 6 miles where we tried to keep the speed between 19 and 20. Our average for that section was only 16 though because of all the stoplights. Gotta love suburbia! It was fun seeing how fast we could get back to 19 though.

We finished and Thom accused me of sandbagging on our last few rides. I told him I just didn't want to work hard before. Working hard hurts!

I was pleased when he said that he thought if I kept working like that, my climbing would get much faster. I've still got that goal of the stage race double centuries next year. I need to get a lot faster to finish Terrible Two within the cutoff.

Ideally I'd like to be training twice a day, 30 - 60 minutes in the morning, 90 minutes or so in the PM. That doesn't mean riding twice a day - training for me also includes the Core stuff, yoga and weights. I'll be happy if I can get in 3 AMs and 2 PMs this week. I have Back to School Night Thursday, otherwise I'd go for 3 PMs.

Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it.

V.

[Starfish]

Hey V, wow, what a great ride description! Gotta admit, sometimes I'm a little envious of how you describe all the great cycling you two do together. It just always sounds like you guys have such a healthy cycling relationship, in addition to your healthy marriage. So glad for you!! That's the way it should be.

Congrats on such speeds. How amazing to have roads closed to cars!

I saw that someone else called the Knoxville Road "creepy." Creepy how? Kind of intriguing.

And, boy do I hear you about training & working. These days, I'm doing 8-12 hours or so in the office, and then doing about 2-3 hours in the evenings at the family business. REALLY having a hard time training. Next week or so, the woman whose house I'm sitting will leave for southern climes, so I'll move the bike in on the trainer. And, this year, I'm going to invest in a couple Spinervals (which you recommended to me last year).

I DO wish you luck! Better you than me for your upcoming rides. But, next year, I am REALLY hoping to do the Shasta SUPER century, not just the SUMMIT century!! So, I really need to go into January with a great base, lower weight, and more strength/speed.

Rock on, Veronica!!

[Veronica]

Yeah, I feel really lucky to have such a great guy. Don't know what I did to deserve that. He's not perfect though. He leaves his dirty socks in odd places, wherever he happens to take his shoes off.

Knoxville Rd is like 30 miles long, about 1.5 lanes wide. There are no houses on it. A stream crosses it several times and in the rainy season, the road becomes impassible - according to the signs. There is barbed wire lining both sides of the road, sometimes right at roadside, sometimes back a bit.

Yesterday we saw lots of people camping on the edge of the road, all driving pick up trucks. Towards the end of the road we saw guys in cammies. I thought maybe it was National Guard, but Thom said the rifle he had was a hunting rifle. Just weird. I hope they are not out there in two weeks. Gun shots creep me out.

How much longer will the long hours go on Starfish?

V.

[maillotpois]

So does the course go up the back side of Cobb? I think that will be the toughest part, and I thought it did that - at least last year. Howell Mountain is a great climb - nothing steep. And it is early enough that you'll be glad to have a bit of a climb. I remember when we did Knoxville at the rest stop there in Yountville being colder than I have ever been on a ride in my LIFE - and I was so glad to hit Howell just to warm up a bit!!

Cobb (Loch Lomond or Seigler Grade or whatever) will be later, hotter, and it is steeper. Unless they're not doing it (she said hopefully)? That's what we had to do at Davis double this year with the course alterations. It blew.

Those are hunters on Knoxville Road. Wear bright colors and hope they don't aim toward the road. (I'm serious.)

[Veronica]

Yep, Seigler and Loch Lomond after lunch. They didn't seem too bad on the drive, but driving can be deceiving. The descent off Cobb looks great! There is a cheese hill sign that says 11% for 2 miles. On the past staff rides, lunch has been at the Foster's Freeze just before Seigler. Jesse warned me last week not to eat the French Fries. I think I'll have Thom bring me a PBJ.

Hunters... great. AV jersey it is. Unless you can think of a red and purple animal.

V.

[Starfish]

How much longer will the long hours go on Starfish?

Kinda hard to tell. I am starting up a new career. It is going quite well, so I'm excited. But, I need to be available when my ultra-busy mentor is in the office, so that I can learn. And, because it is straight commission, for the first 2-3 months or so, I am also still doing a little evening work in our family business, just to keep a little planned-for cash coming in.

The good news is that I really don't have a boss (except me), so I'm working on how to order my life so that I can take the bike to the office and make it easy for myself to get out during a spare hour during midday.

I think that despite the long hours, once I really see what the days are going to go like (and when my house-sit owner leaves), I will be able to squeeze in the shorter, weight loss workouts I need.

The good news is that despite the current long hours, they won't stay that way forever, and I am really enjoying myself so far, and there are some early signs that it is all going to work out just fine!

Also, despite my interest in getting into Triathlons, I have to admit, I went back over my Arnie Baker book last night, and I just feel really excited about continuing to pursue my biking goals. I think I might have one more year of just biking before I start seriously cross training. I'm definitely going to swim more this year, though. It is SUCH great cross training for the bike. That easy, 2-beat-kick for distance swimming is PERFECT recovery for cycling.

Oh, and MP's right. It is hunting season. We all should be careful about using our hi-viz stuff right now. When I had horses and lived out beyond the range of power, I festooned the horses with surveyor's tape, and I quit taking walks in the woods for awhile. Even so, one day, a bullet came whizzing through the yard! I'm not anti-hunting by any means, but I'll tell you, when I went out for my weekly target practice, I would ALWAYS walk all the way behind the barriers we would shoot against, just to make sure no one was back there...even though the barriers seemed to block all shots and were in established target practice areas.

[Veronica]

Hey that's great! I'm glad the new gig seems to be working out.

V.

[Starfish]

Hey that's great! I'm glad the new gig seems to be working out. V.

oops, sorry I kind of took over your thread with my huge reply!

Someday, at least once, I want to do a double like you can. So amazing to me.

[Veronica]

I don't mind thread drift. It's like a conversation.

I bet you could do an "easy" double now. The Shasta ride you did had a lot more climbing than some of them. It's in quotation marks because none of them are really easy. It's a lot of saddle time though. Everybody is different, but I know I always have some moment or 12 moments, when I wonder why am I doing this? And you have to be able to talk yourself through it. I think that's the hardest part of doing a double - just convincing yourself that whatever discomfort you're feeling is not that big of a deal.

I'm still not sure why I keep wanting to do them. When Thom and I were hiking in Glacier, just before we saw the moose, we were talking about doubles and whether or not I was going to do more. At that point, I was like, yeah, I'm done. I don't ever need to do another one. Go figure.

V.

[Pedal Wench]

V,

Thanks for posting. I've got to increase my mileage rides - aiming for something in February, so I've got time, but still need the inspiration!

[Wahine]

Wow. I think a feel a little inspiration going on. Hmmmmmmm. Maybe a double is a good idea. Starfich, haave you done your homework on this? Have we got something in our neck of the woods that would suffice besides STP?

[Veronica]

A 300 K Brevet is close in mileage. The time limits are a little more generous, but in general they are unsupported. Come to CA and do one of our doubles. I normally work Knoxville. It's usually in the middle of Sept. This year they had to change the date and I had already committed to Waves to Wine.

V.

[maillotpois]

A 300k is definitely close (which means I've done 4 doubles so far this year, right?! )

I've heard your STP in one day is a good starter double.

I'm definitely going to be "winging" this double. Oh well. Slow and steady... And I think my DMD jersey will be quite good protection - orange and red!! Funny Starfish, my mom always made me wear bright colors when I'd go out riding on the ranch after hunting season started. We'd post no hunting signs all over, but it never really helped. You'd still find shells.

[Starfish]

Veronica: Leave it to you to throw down the gauntlet. Telling me I could do a double now! Gads! Really, I don't think I'm fast enough, yet. But, give me the winter. I'm working on it!! Been doing sort of fartlek intervals even on my short rides lately. Going to step it up aggressively after I lose some weight.

Wahine: Nope, really haven't done the homework, but these two are on my radar...

This isn't a double, but I am DYING to do RATPOD. It is 157 miles with 7500 feet of climbing. Always around the last weekend or so in June. Benefits kids with cancer. And, it is in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It starts and ends in Dillon, MT, and climbs up through the Big Hole Valley. They only get a few hundred riders, so it isn't swamped. I know someone who has done it, and says it is a great ride. Would really like to do this with someone to get the benefit of drafting if the MT wind kicks up. Say the word, and I am ready to do this with you. http://www.ratpod.org/

Or, there is STP. I'm not excited about the route, it is pretty ugly, IMO. But, it is flatter, and I know from doing it in 2 days that if a person gets an early start, and then doesn't stop in the middle, that the crowds are not as bad. I did day one from about 5am to 1pm, and the crowd wasn't bad. But, day 2 was a nightmare of crowds, after the bottleneck of Chehalis.

http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/ I think these folks do some stuff, but I have always shied away from them because they require fenders and stuff (I think). My bike doesn't take fenders.

I'm open to suggestions for other NW stuff, though. Of course, you could do the Shasta Super Century with me next year!!

MP: Yep...some hunters are very intelligent, respectful, and safety oriented. Others are not. *sigh*

[Wahine]

Ooooooooo. Now I'm getting really excited.

Starfish - Mt. Shasta is a great idea. I bet that I could even convince DH to train for it. Ratpod sounds like a blast.

V - I think I'll be making a point to come to NoCal next summer/fall. DH is originally from Stockton so we could roll it up into a bike ride and family visit.