in my last post, i started 2009 with that sort of happy-go-lucky good feeling that usually accompanies a new day, a new purchase, or being high. 3 months later, how do i feel?

still good. fortunately! i started training earlier this year, mostly because i signed up to do the solvang century on march 14. i dont think i’ve ever done an event this early in the year. in fact, my first event in 2008 was the tierra bella 100k in april, and even then, it was early to my standards. i didnt start riding until mid march.. suffice to say it was one of the most painful rides ive done.

what i did different this year

my first training ride was january 17th. the previous three weeks were spent recovering from a bad cold and cough that kept me sidelined.  i started out with a fair base from the gym workous, mostly weights and cardio. the rides were slow and easy. not just slow, but slooooowwww. i didn’t bother hitting the hills until the 5th ride out. i increased distance each week but about 20%.. twice what i usually increase by, but the stress of a march ride got to me. even though the rides were slow, i jumped to 50 miles in the 3rd week.  surely small by any other standard, but i was recovering from a cold, and most of these rides were in 40 degree weather. cold enough for double base layers and long gloves! after the first 50, i limited my rides to around 40 miles to allow for some acclimation. gym and cardo were still in full effect, 5 days a week, including spin on tuesdays. my body felt good, and taking the slow approach felt better than previous starts.

i also experimented with my nutrition. last year, i had a dependency on sports drinks, and when a friend introduced carbo pro to me, i gained a dependence on that as well. it was honestly like crack, because i thought i couldnt survive without it. all my pre-hill rides (first 4 rides)  either involved only water, or one bottle of motortabs, and possibly one packet of gu or clif bloks if i felt dizzy (no, probably shouldnt wait till im dizzy, ever again).  ill pull a george washington, and tell you that i suffered quite a bit on the rides. complete and utter withdrawal.. but well worth it when i did a 50 mile ride with water and 2 motortabs, and clif bloks.

when i started the group rides (read: group of 3, haha), i’d have one bottle of cytomax, and any refills would be motortabs. id eat clif bloks to stave off hunger, and maybe one packet of gu if the shit hit the fan. riding in a group is always much more difficult for me because i feel obligated to keep up with the pace (obviously), and take pulls. for large events, ill bring along packets of carbo pro + cytomax.. because the last thing i wanna do is take any risks. i take much less than i did before, which is a beautiful thing because i always felt i was on the verge of bonking in previous years.  on shorter training rides, i’ll continute to limit myself to a motortabs and clif bloks, or maybe one bottle of cytomax depending on the route.

new gear makes me happy (most of the time)

in 2007 i got a set of zipp 404′s, with a powertap in the rear. we were doing STP for the first time, and i knew i’d need any kind of energy saving advantage i could get if we were going to paceline the whole day through 204 miles. while they’re a great wheelset, tough as nails, and smooth.. but regardless of that, they were still a set of carbon hoops that had me more worried than anything.. especially on long descents that required me to ride the brakes because gravity loves me.

i bought a garmin 705 to keep track of power + distance since the new 705′s and new powertaps use ant+ for communication. i tried to update my zipp powertap wheel, but according to saris, my 2007 wheel was “old”, and needed to be updated at the factory. stank. the wheel was out for 2 weeks. in the mean time, i got a new wheelset from wheelbuilder.com. kinlin 30mm rims, powertap sl+ rear with ceramic bearings, and a dt swiss 190c front hub.  i had a few quibbles with the wheels, but nothing that didn’t get fixed right away. apparently powertap campy hubs were brand new, and were slightly off with machining, so when the wheels were on and there was weight on the wheel, the hub wouldn’t allow itself to freewheel, and the chain would catch on the rear derailleur. wheelbuilder.com sent me a small washer (1/1000 of an inch, i believe), that solved my problem instantly. imagine how close those tolerances are if 1/1000 of an inch were between me and my chain dropping. the rims are nice and stiff, but the brake track is much smaller than the zipps or the mavics. my conti gp 4000 tires won’t fit without me using metal tire levers to get the them on. i sliced through a finger and my arm in a 30 minute struggle that broke 3 steel core soma levers. i eventually found some lezyne tire lever/wrenches/bottle openers that did the trick. let me tell you, i LOVE lezyne products now.

i switched out my fsa k-force compact carbon bar for the aluminum version. a friend’s friend took a nasty fall after his bars failed (probably from a previous crash), and it got me spooked. the aluminums vibrate the shit out of my hands and wrists, and i think im starting to feel wrist pain from them.. but not sure if switch back to carbon is worth it. for now, fizik bar gel helps by providing some much needed padding.

what now?

aside from getting over ANOTHER cold, the training rides will continue.. cycling through distances and routes, and building up to a century each month until STP.  im excited about all the riding im doing this year.. and at the moment, it feels damn good. one ride down, 4 more to go.