Different Kind of suffering...suffering nonetheless.

My Father died and then my uncle. This has been a very tough Christmas. They both died of heart disease and they weren't the only ones to do so in my family. It is the circle of life though. The son should bury the father and not the other way around.

Change

Cycling being such a repetitive sport/activity that sometimes, well sometimes change is bad. I'm making some big changes and I hope they are for the good.

Goals:

My long term goal is the same: I want to reach the pro level by the end of 2012. Let me clarify: Domestic Professional. I just want to get to that level to say or quantify that I have reached that goal. My short term goals are to race and win a national level event. Next year I'm going to race the Masters' National Crit Championships 30-34 and then go to Downers Grove and race the Elite Championships. The reality is that by the time the Masters' Nationals roll around I will only have 2.5 years of cycling under my legs and that I'm not gifted with a big engine. It takes at least 3 years (Cyclist Training Bible) to realize ones potential and maybe more for those on the slow end of the curve. I'm not sure where I fall on that curve. I do know that if I can make it to the end, I can hold my own. I also know that if I don't enter the race(s), I'll defiantly not win. 90% of success is just showing up.

The 2010 season has already begun for me and the 1^st goal is to drop to 8% body fat. I'm almost there now. The second goal is to begin training in earnest when I get back from Thailand November 20^th. I would like to get my functional threshold power to around 4.5w/kg before going into race mode. That will depend on my body's adaptation rate and how well the winter/spring training goes. Last year, I had to take a January completely off the bike due to a hamstring tear and I was still able to win a race. I was able to increase my power 30 watts from 08 to 09. If I can get the same improvements for 10, then I should be able to reach target ftp.

Team:

I'm racing with Palmetto Velo for the 2010 season. I do appreciate everything that the Harrell's Bicycle World crew has done for me and I'll continue to do business with Harrell's. Palmetto Velo is a more organized team and for the results I want, I'll need a support system of guys around me in races. This is not to say that I'm not going to work for them. I look forward to playing the domestique role as I know that it will make me stronger. I also look forward to leading out my teammates and helping with the win. I just need to win and hope these guys are going to work as hard for me as I'm willing to work for them. I look forward to the new opportunity there.

 

Bike:

I've changed the saddle on my bike and I'm going to go back to 172.5mm cranks. Last year, I ran 165mm cranks. I read an article that recommended the smaller cranks and I figured I would give it a shot. I had decent results with them, but when things went uphill, I had to push really hard. I think/hope that the longer cranks will help in that regard. The new saddle is the Fizik Antares and it's great…now that I've had my fit adjusted to it. Preliminary test on the rollers show an increase in power for effort, but I'll wait until it get out on the road to really quantify it.

Barring any injuries or illness, next year will be a great one for me. I think that the adaptations will have set in by then and I will be closer to seeing what my potential will be. Also, by the end of 2011, I'll be able to see if I really do have what it takes to reach my goal. I'm appreciative of all my friends and family and look forward to them being there with me.

Brookwood Chruch, My 1st CAT3 race

Wow. I wish I could say that I had a great race and that I won it or even finished in the top 10, but I can't. I was off the back 15 minutes into it. On the bright side, my wife said, "If someone had to to it, it might as well be you." Thanks honey.

I knew the field would be strong, but I didn't realize it would be by that much. Basically, it turned out to be a 1 minute effort (uphill) followed by 27-37 seconds of rest (downhill) into the wind. Each of the 1 minute efforts sent me SCREAMING over my ftp. The lowest avg. Was 287 (only once), the highest was 397w. With my FTP being around 270 right now, it was only a matter of time before I was launched off the back. I gave everything I had and even tried to jump back in...the second time I was lapped. After 29minutes of riding solo, I decided I needed to try to save a little bit for tomorrow at the BMW center.

My shoot the moon goal for next year still stands though. It may be unrealistic, but I damn sure am going to try. I've had some other setbacks that I haven't written about here that caused me to take almost a month off of the bike so I know I'm not in form (and that's also why the FTP is a down).

I'm going to take what I've found today and tomorrow and work with my coach to build a plan that will get me there in the best shape possible. With a solid plan, consistent training and hard work, my physiology may still not allow me to reach that goal. I'm still going to do everything I can to get there.

Stay tuned for BMW results. Then I'll post my winter & next season goals.

Pear Shaped second half of the season

Wow. 10 days off the bike does a lot of things to you and none of them are good for your racing. Top end. My top end is down. For a 7min 300w effort, I usually average around 172bpm. Friday, for 298w, my HR average was 177bpm. I hope to be able to get it back to where it was by the last race of the season. If not, there is always next year. I can't complain, but I would like another 1st place finish. Going to talk to my coach about upgrading to CAT-3 before the end of the year so that I can race 4 races as a 3 before the season is out.

Off the bike

One of the things I haven't written about is the fact that I've been off of the bike since the 12th. I had a lingering issue from the crash that didn't manifest itself until I did the workout on the 12th. The injury is called a Scrotal Contusion. Yeah, It sucks as bad at is sounds. When I landed on my face, my bike landed on my "boys". The "fellas" were healing and my face hurt so bad, it masked any discomfort I was having down there. The workouts on the 11th & 12th exacerbated the problem and they let me know there was a problem. It wasn't a testicle injury, but an injury to a vein that feeds them. So the pedaling action, inflamed the area. Of course, I couldn't believe this was happening so I checked myself a couple of times that night & the next day before seeing the Doctor. The Doctor has seen this kind of injury before (guys are tough on themselves) and said that the number of time I "checked" myself just aggravated the injury even more--Great. But again, the doc said that's something that's also been a typical reaction to his patients that have received this type of injury. Rest & time off of the bike is what the doctor ordered. I can't give myself and "examination" until the 20th--doctors orders. My coach has made a plan so that I'm doing workouts off of the bike until the 23rd. The discomfort has gone away, but I'm going to play it safe and not get back on the bike until the 24th.

The doctor stated that if the discomfort/knot persists more than 6 weeks, then it's back for another examination and it's something more serious. Let's hope not.

B

From a Friend, Paul Laymon, when asked about what it takes to be a "Pro":

"You are part way there by saying it is harder to give up than not to try. Choosing things for yourself is the only real freedom we have in life. Choose that freedom and make up your own mind, then excel beyond where others stop.
It's a lonely journey, and you will lose more friends than you will make. However, those friends you make will help you "bury the body"
In the end, it isn't about the things we did, that's just another trophy, you won't remember them, it is about the people we meet along the way...good and bad."

-Paul Laymon.

I'll not for get your words. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing you whoop-up the 50+ age-groupers.

-B

Hanes Park Crash 08/09/09

I had a terrible accident today. A rider shot across my front wheel (from left to right) and I went head first onto the ground. My face is trashed (30-40% road rash on right side of face), my jersey is ripped, my lip had to have two stitches, my temporary teeth were broken out and I suffered a concussion. I got knocked out I hit the ground so hard. I’ve got rash on my shoulder, knee & wrist as well. My wrists are banged up (from trying to catch myself) and my right leg has some road rash. I was rushed off to the ER in a Ambulance (pretty cool—haven’t done that in a while). The CAT scan showed everything was cool.

Shame really. I happened with 3 to go. It was around 34 minutes into the race when we were going up the hill. We were traveling around 19mph. All I remember was yelling at him, hitting the deck and looking at the curb thinking to myself “that’s going to hurt.” The EMT’s said I remembered everything when I got up and that I was coherent, but I only remember bits and pieces. I do remember yelling at the peleton as they stormed by me on the final lap so that’s a bit of a consolation. Needless to say, I’m not going to race this coming weekend. It’s 4 hours away and at the moment, I would rather train closer to home for my wife’s sake. I was over 3 hours away from home when this happened and she was at work so this really scared her. It opened my eyes as well. This was something that I could truly not control.

The thing is, my collarbone’s not broken. My wrists aren't’ broken (my teeth don’t count) and my bike is perfectly fine—I think. That being said, I don’t want to take the chance to miss my priority race because of some squirrely rider.

How was the race up until that point? Perfect. I put in a good long warm-up and my 2 minute threshold efforts were solid. As an aside, I think my threshold power is around 295-305w now. For the race, I was at the front the entire time around 10-15th spot. With 5 to go, I moved to 5-10th spot. I only had my nose in the wind once and that was short lived because of a preme. I felt great. The average HR for this race was 172bpm, speed 24.5 and it had 1 significant hill with 2 little risers. For me to stay in it shows that I am in form and smarter about hills racing in general. Also, I had a friend say that he would lead me out that sealed the deal. I crashed and my friend ended up winning so I’m very happy for him. I talked to him a bit after the race and he said I’m sure you are hurting. I told him that not being able to finish hurts more.