Thanksgiving Break Update

Click on Cheryl's blog wolfmoonserenade to see what we've been upto. Great photos and great narrative including an eventful 36 hours dealing with a skunk close encounter.
Also, started my off season training this week after quite a while off the bike. Finaly feeling motivated again!

I Wanna Ride 'Cross!!!

Check out his short film of cyclocross racing. Man, that looks fun!

Gran Prix of Gloucester - A Cyclocross Film from Benjamin Eckstein on Vimeo.

2009 Season: Excuses, Excuses!

My season is way over! I came out strong with a really good off season program that lifted my fitness, reached a goal of completing a century, but otherwise it has been a frustrating and disappointing season for me.. This may sound petty and it may indeed be, but I can't help being competitive. It's in my blood and how I was raised. The good news is I still had fun riding and competing here and there and every year I ride at a decent fitness level is another year with miles in the legs, lungs and heart which I can build on for next year. I just wish I had not gotten injured (plantar fasciitis on July 4th and still plagues me today) and had a more favorable work schedule to ride and compete more. The KHS train keeps adding more freight to the work load and rec time is being squeezed severely. My last opportunity to race at the Great Osprey Challenge was canceled, which is OK, since I've only trained six times in the last three weeks. It would have been ugly.
I didn't get to do any mass start races (well, I did one training criterium with Wheels way back in April) and not any mtb races either. Grad school in the summer is good for the career, but not so good for the bike racer. In the Maine Time Trial Series I finished 11 out of 56 riders in my age group (see below). That may sound good, and it is for me, but it could have gone better. The injury compounded by mechanical/tech issue during one race, extreme race day fatigue due to late nights in dorms followed by 5am wake-ups for race day travel and other assorted boarding school obligations that piled on at two other races. Also, a screw-up on a start time (I was WAY early) that had me over cooked for the race as I decided to get a good pre-race warm-up whereupon I got ridiculously lost and rode too far and too hard before the race. I rolled up to the start seconds before being a DNS and rode best I could considering I had no time to refuel with a carb drink per usual. I bonked about 12 miles into a 15 mile TT. I limped to the finish without any gas left. I chalked up the day to a good century preparation ride. Aside from a cervelo P4 TT bike appearing under the Christmas tree (hell, I'd be happy for any level TT bike!) I don't think I'll be able to sneak up much more than top ten in my age group considering the dudes that are ahead of me are cycling freak shows with $5,000 TT bikes to boot. So, If can break the top ten in my age group next year and hopefully top 25 overall, I'd be pretty happy. The goal this off season is to keep my weight manageable, continue working on the power and pile up some more miles this winter on the trainer, on the snowshoes and on the XC skiis. I know I'll be rearing to go next spring!
I'll aim for the stars to eventually land on the moon. All told, I can live with that.

Peak Performance Maine Time Trial Series - 2009 Final Standings
9/15/09
Men 35-44
1. Fred Thomas
2. Seth Brooker
3. John Meerse
4. Mike Golay
5. Jim Barry
6. Bruce Diehl
7. Steve Connor
8. Andy Haskell
9. Timothy Bryce
10. Bob Turner
11. Matt Moore
12. Joseph Ewings
13. Mike Spangenberg
14. Greg Goodhue
15. Thomas Connor
16. Matthew Sudduth
17. Paul Coluccio
18. Sven Lohse
19. James Karcanes
20. Patrick Ruane
21. William O'Brien
22. Norman Morgan
23. Guillermo Herrera
24. Mark Spottiswood
25. Scott Marr
26. Lucas Hubbard
27. Keith Loiselle
28. Robert Hetzer
29. John Caswell
30. John Kachmar
31. Armand Pantalone
32. Jason Callari
33. Jeff Yingling
34. Ron Colavolpe
35. Matt Fowler
36. Alvin Bugbee
37. Derek Hilton
38. John Tipping
39. Mark Burns
40. Paul Demerchant
41. Richard Brown
42. James Johnson
43. Peter Leavitt
44. Rick Durgin
45. Rick Scott
46. Jim Dunn
47. Bill James
48. Tom Murray
49. Richard Long
50. Ed Maillet
51. Tom Scontras
52. Chris Kein
53. David Richard
54. Troy Goss
55. Thomas LesBosquet
56. Paul Weiss

Dempsey Challenge Century, 10/4/09

I rode my first century on Oct. 4 at the Dempsey challenge in Lewiston/Auburn a couple of weeks ago. Since becoming serious with riding the last few years I have always wanted to complete one of these. I have mapped out a couple of routes over the last two years to complete on my own, including a ride to Bethel, Maine and back which would be a good ride to do perhaps next year.

I was psyched to see the Dempsey Challenge come around as it would be a fun event and for a good cause, The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Treatment. In short order I raised about $460 from Kents Hill School and was proud to represent the school for this charity ride. Thanks to KHS for its support of the charity and to me to ride it and to Cheryl for the support and encouragement to make it happen. This day meant a lot to me.

Cheryl and I woke early Sunday and headed out to the event which turned out to be a decent day with temps in the high 50's and partly sunny. this was after three straight days of heavy rain and it cleared early enough for me to keep the rain gear at home. We arrived to quick a spectacle! A few thousand people ready to ride various distances and even a 5K running race. There were vendors, performers, spectators, news crews and of course TV and Movie Star Patrick Dempsey himself decked out in a Specialized kit ready to ride the 50 mile route. Dempsey seemed really at ease and very happy at the turn-out and true to his native Mainer roots, was down to earth and very approachable, signing autographs and chatting with folks. There were plenty of young women and girls squealing away at his every word and Cheryl got a few pics of him as we were just a few yards from him. At one point Dempsey walked right past Cheryl and she said "Thanks for doing this for Maine" too which Dempsey replied with a smile, " You bet!" After a brief swoon, Cheryl composed herself and took some pictures at my request of the stars I was interested in: Elite Pro Cyclists George Hincapie, Ted King
and David Zabriski. It was way cool for me too see these real deal euro tour pros. They looked much like elite cyclist anywhere, just more polished and very lean, though not gaunt or sickly looking like some pros.

after some standing around we were off on the 101.8 mile ride and I soon found a good tempo and settled into a long day on the saddle. I only was off my bike for just a few minutes to take a bathroom break, other than that I was riding for 6hours and 20 minutes over 108 miles. that's right I added SIX miles to the ride due to a missed turn where upon I found myself in no mans land, alone and wondering where everyone was. i motorist informed me I missed a turn after ridden a few miles to another intersection. Thanks to the good Samaritan, I didn't get way of course. Every turn but this one was properly marked and had course marshals to alert rides of the turns. This particular turn was at the bottom of a steep hill, which I bombed down at about 55 mph (seriously. I sometimes top out at 60mph on steep descents. 210 lbs going down hill helps) and flew right past the turn which was in the middle of a personnel change and for just a minute no one was there to show the way. That was the only glitch on an otherwise great day of riding. I covered 100 miles in 6 hours flat, which was my goal, averaging just over 18 mph for the ride. It was VERY hilly with about 6500 feet of climbing. I may go very fast down hills, but up them is another matter.

After a recover week of easy spinning i was supposed to crank up the training again to prepare for my last event of the Year, the Great Osprey Challenge at Wolf Neck Farm in Freeport, Nov. 1, but school work piled a bunch of obligations on me and riding time has been very slim. Two weeks to go, so I'll see what I can get in and just try to hang on and have fun and not get lapped by fellow KHS rider Todd Wheelden.

West Branch Penobscott River Fishing Trip

Narration coming soon. Time to watch the Pats beat Denver!

So, the pats lost! ugh!

Dave Pearson, Eric
Turner, his friend Taft and Eric hunt and I headed up country last June after end of the year meetings were done for a few days of well deserved down time and fishing in a world class land locked fishery near Baxter State Park. We loaded up on provisions and made the 3 1/2 hour trip north mid0day Monday morning and were fishing the "Big Eddy" by sunset. People come from all over the country and even beyond to fish this river and its eddy in June to time up with the caddis fly hatch. It did not disappoint this year. As you all know June was a very wet one with weeks straight of rain, but we lucked out and got four days of sunny skies and warm temps, which was the last good weather until August came around. Eric and Taft came for the superb whitewater kayaking and the rest for the fish. Eric Hunt and Dave concentrated on the big eddy as that is where large fish are caught. The down side is that you can be elbow to elbow with other fishermen and the the open water is crammed with boats. In an area of a few acres of water there can be 25 people and 12 or more boats out competing for prime spots and casting space. Catching fish is important to me, but the experience is even more to me. I went on my own and bushed whacked up river to get some breathing room and enjoy some beauty and solitude. I spent the next few days fishing the more remote pools and catching a couple decent salmon and even a couple of brook trout.

The highlight of the trip for me was hiking to a back country pond, borrowing a small row boat a local had left (I was careful/respectful with it and used a log to pole myself around the shallows of the pond) and enjoyed a few hours of being the only person on this 100 acre beautiful pond. I was fishing with my old friend Guy Wheelock's fly rod, which he left to me after he passed away the previous fall. It is a custom made rod with his name on it and I tried to take a picture of it with me. so he could enjoy one last , sunny day on the water fishing. This proved to be a bit emotional for me as I fished with his fly rod while looking out on a mountain I know he knew so well. This was Guy country and he spent many years fishing these waters and exploring the waters below Ripogenous dam as a young man. Thanks for the memory, Guy!

Anyway, I hiked back from the pond, got hungry, caught a small brookie, contemplated eating it raw like a sardine, but put it back to catch another year. All told it was another great Maine experience and I can't wait to get back again next June!

Back From the Dead

Hello friends and family! It's been a long time since my last post and a lot has gone on. Losts of grad school work, a little fishing early in the summer, now lots of KH school work and football coaching, a lot of rain and even a little bike riding here and there. I am trying to get back to at least one post per week this school year, as it seems doable and frankly, good for me to do something besides grade tests and lab reports and blow the coaching whistle (I don't even want to mention football again. Yes, it's that bad). A couple of catch-up posts regarding an awesome fishing trip I took, a summer riding recap, a couple race reports and that should get me back up to speed. Thanks for reading and feel free to forward the blog to others who may be interested (old friends or other bike freaks).

Life Is Rich Yet Too Busy

No riding for several days. Actually my last exercise was 3 hours of pushing a lawn mower around our place up near the woods at the back of KH. Seems we are last on the list for mowing, so last Sunday I mowed about two acres of WILD lawn. It was high! Being a freak, I checked my heart rate often and I was working hard enough to keep it fairly aerobic. I was actually sore the following day. Achy knees and sore tendons/stiff muscles! I chalked it up to an afternoon of effective cross training. Since then it has been end of the year faculty meetings, social events (pretty much mandatory. They serve us beer and wine, so I'm cool with that.) and year end paper work/ grade reports and closing up the classroom. This spring has been the busiest yet in my nine years at KH and I guess there is little I can do to change it. I'll try to ride a few times the rest of this week to buffer the loss of fitness before I go on a much needed fishing trip up north with a few colleagues. Actually I'll climb Mt/ Katahdin while I'm up that way, so that will be a good workout, then I'll come back and just let 'er rip for the rest of the summer. When I start Grad School again this summer, I will actually be riding a lot because I'll be commuting to UNH from Stratham both ways most days. Last year this was great for my fitness, as I lugged about 20-25lbs of gear in a back pack and I rode like a mad man to limit my time on the very busy roads of southern NH. I also look forward to training for the Stratham Fair road race and the Yankee Homecoming race I'll run with my sister, Heather again this year. So, in the meantime, I enjoy the moment and relish the extra time with Cheryl, Murphy and Huck afforded me now that school's out. I'll sneak rides in when I can.

Belfast TT Race Report

18/47

http://www.mypeakmultisport.com/news/2009_Belfast_Bicycle_Club_Time_Trial_Results.htm

Sorry for the lack of blog action lately. As my brother put it I've "gone underground." It's the end of the school year here at KHS and the amount and pace of work has increased. The result has been little sleep and even less training. In the two weeks preceding the Belfast race I only got on the bike 5 times. It should have been 10 -12 times. I lost a bit of fitness and was several pounds over my goal weight for this race, which I could feel in this race and actually finished 45 seconds slower than last year. I was pretty disappointed, but Cheryl, who came with me to the race, which was great, put it in perspective for me. She asked if I enjoyed riding and racing, which I do, so I should enjoy being out there testing yourself and having fun even though it doesn't always go as planned. Honestly, with my work schedule, it's a victory getting away and participating in these events. That said, I am looking forward to having more training time and racking up some more personal best times in the races to come. In fact I have a race Sunday 5/31 in Cape Elizabeth. My advisee Pat and I will be departing KHS at 5:30 am (ouch!) for the 8 am race. I've never done this course, so success will be judged by finishing safely and finishing in front of a couple of riders who I really should be in front of, but who nipped me by a minute or so last race. Hopefully my legs will be up for it. I'll try to post a race report Sunday night with prelim results.

Go Big or Go Home: My Brother Rocks!

My brother, Dave, all 6'8" 250lbs of him (just two years ago he was 320 lbs! Another riding success story!) rode the Tour de Syracuse criterium today. His first mass start race and first test among the little people, as we Moore's say. Dave hung tough within the pack, even though he doesn't even get shielded from the wind within the pack due to his size (See the picture! Dave is the large human two bikes left of the pine tree) Dave is still pushing a lot of air behind the skinny's due to his division I size football body (D- Line, BC, '87-'90). Dave rode hard and gave it all he had because that's all he knows how to do. Congratulations, Dave and let 'er rip tomorrow during the Tour de Syracuse Road Race.

Next year, lets do it together!

Mid-Coast TT Race Report

A very small turnout last Sunday, I guess due to the weather, but I've seen it worse and have twice as many people. The fast riders showed up (I do not count myself as one. I mean the really fast riders) of course and Fast Fred set yet another course record. Amazing! He averaged nearly 28 mph in windy conditions. Sick! My time, well a little different. I still was 1:50 min faster than last year, but I am confident that I could have done better. Here's why: I RODE THE FIRST 3.5 MILES IN THE SMALL CHAIN RING! What an idiot! I kept looking down to the rear cassette, which I had in a big gear, wondering why I was going so slow. I just chalked it up to the head wind. It wasn't until I finally looked directly down to the crank set to see, to my HORROR, that I was in the small ring. I quickly switched and hammered the rest of the way, carrying on an expletive strewn narrative in my head on my self-made misfortune. Every race is a learning experience! Next up is a busy weekend of the 23/24 of May. Belfast TT on Saturday and then the last SIP crit on the Sunday.

http://www.mypeakmultisport.com/news/Peak_Time_Trial_Midcoast_Results.htm

LL Bean TT Race Report

37/93

Haven't felt much like writing. Lots of School work and fatigue. In fact I rode the LL Bean Time Trial race on about 4 hours sleep, which wouldn't be so bad, except the two previous nights I got about 5 hours sleep each night due to having to work in the dorms. So, Sunday morning I met Pat E at 5:45 am and we drove to Freeport for the race. Pat was in good spirits as he had a great day previously at the Polar Bear Triathlon where he placed second in his age group. He was good to go as his 18 year old body recovered well from his effort Saturday. I felt like a dead man! Very tired, but I had been training for months so I wasn't about to miss this race. After missing the exit due to being distracted by a hitchhiker on the highway and then actually missing my start time after a too short of a warm -up , I was off and racing. The start official let me jump in the line and I started 30 seconds later than I should have. At least I didn't flat!
Pat had a good race finishing in 53:25 and i just barely snuck the 18.3 mile very hill and twisty course in 49:59 Two minutes 6 seconds faster than last year! Not bad for a dead man.

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/05/03-LLBean-TT.asp

Trainer + ESPN = Average Workout

After nearly 3 weeks without rain it has been pretty wet here the last few days. I have ridden in the rain, but I only have one road bike for training and races, so I need to baby it, plus riding in the rain sucks. So I was back on the trainer this week. I have migrated out of the basement and have been riding in the living room while watching TV, which makes the time go by a lot easier. I hope to ride to Kingfield this weekend after my Lacrosse game Saturday where Cheryl and I will stay with Dee Dee during the KH long weekend. I would like to ride up rt. 27 from Kingfield up to the Sugarlaof Mountain access road to the base lodge (40 ish miles) and back to Dee Dee's Sunday and then ride on back home Monday. It's 50 hilly miles (Kents Hill foothills to the full on white mountains of Maine) one way, so there is potential for a very big few days (140 ish miles with some higher efforts the next few days). We'll see.

A word to my friend, Ross: Cheryl and I are thinking of you. Come north when your ready and lets go fishing.

SIP Criterium Race Report

Southern Maine Cycling Club (SMCC) SIP Crit Series




So not having a bike I decided to run my ass off in a 5K Saturday to get a hard effort in this weekend. After limping home after a personal best in the Mark Hazzard Day Race, I arrived home to a message from Steve of Kennebec Bike and Ski that my Speedster is ready to come home. Crap! Now I have to ride the SIP crit! I didn’t want to be that guy who talks the game and then bails out, so I drove into Hallowell to the shop picked up the bike. It looked great and in killer condition with new shifters, chain and a new computer to top it all off. Steve gave me a killer deal on the whole shebang and I left smiling, but way worried about riding with elite level racers in 18 hours. I got home and slowly climbed the stairs to the bathroom where I drew an ice bath and soaked my body in COLD water for 20 shivering minutes. If your legs are trashed and knees are throbbing like mine after a super hard effort, an ice bath will do wonders for your recovery. It just takes some courage to do it, because let’s face it. It’s invasive.
After the bath I dressed then went to coach a lacrosse game on slightly better legs only to stand on them for about 3 hours which then negated the ice bath. I went home, dropped my bike and gear off at Wheels’ place and then got off my feet for the next few hours followed by ANOTHER ice bath, then went to bed hoping I would feel fresher in the morning.
The race was in Saco, about 75 minutes south of Kents Hill, so I woke at 5:30 am and walked over to Wheels’ place, jumped in his car and we were off.
We arrived in Saco at about 7am, registered and got geared up. It was cold. About 40 degrees with a crisp sea breeze. Wheels was unimpressed. I was hoping the cold would dull the throbbing in my knees. It did not. We both sat in the car trying to man-up to get on our bikes. Off course the warm-up was short and I never did feel like I got my legs to flush out properly. So what, I said. Stop whining and hammer as hard as you can. I did and actually hung with the pack of cat 1-4 riders (I’d guess mostly cat 3 riders, which is pretty damn fast, with one or two cat 1 and 2 guys and the rest of us at cat 4 ability) for 19 of the 20 one mile laps. Just 20 miles, you say? That sounds easy. But it’s not the distance. It’s the intensity. I can hop on a bile and spin an easy 50-60 miles on any giving day, but I can’t do an all out, heart pounding, leg burning, lung searing hammer fest any day I want. It’s just too hard on the body. So, after my hard run the day before, it turns out my leg muscle tissues were on a very strict time table of function. The bottom dropped out of my leg power with incredible swiftness at lap 19. Now, you may think that I just had ONE MORE LAP. Why couldn’t I just suck it up and finish strong. It was physiologically impossible. The muscles would no longer contract with any significant force. I was toast.
It did not help that I did not drink one once of fluid during the race as I thought I would be alright during a short, but intense race. I was so very wrong. I was helpless as I saw the pack roll away from me one mile from the finish. I cursed, put my head down and my hands out in TT position and tried to peddle as hard as my body would allow to at least keep them in sight. Keeping my head down on the back straight away was a poor decision (a lowered head isn’t necessarily aerodynamic anyway). I rolled straight on through the intersection where I was supposed to take a hard right to the finish line. I raised my head about ¼ mile after the turn, actually laughed out loud at my stupidity and sat up with my hands on the tops, turned around and spun lazily to the finish. I met Wheels who finished up front. I drank a lot of Gatorade, had a cliff bar to refuel my legs then we went off for an hour recovery ride, of which the last 10 minutes my legs began to cramp as my muscles burnt up the sugars I had just ingested 50 minutes earlier. Thankfully and mercifully, Wheels put things in perspective for me. Hanging with the pack in an “A” race was really pretty good. He confirmed that there were some really fast riders in the pack and the pace was rugged for him also. I need to keep fueling during the race and just keep hammering along. I’m going to try to do this crit again in a few weeks on fresher legs and see how it shakes out. A great learning experience and an even better training weekend. Next up the LL Bean Time Trial May 3.

Mark Hazzard Day 5K Race Report

Kents Hill School hosted the first Mark Hazzard Day 5K Run this year in honor of alum Mark Hazzard '75 who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. The race had about 100 entries of a few locals and lots of students and faculty. KHS heavy hitter runners Catherine Sterling, Will and Amanda Rhem (Will and Amanda ran, but went easy) and race organizer Meg Bennett did not compete, so the field was a bit soft, but it raised a lot of money, which was the focus of course. So the winner won in 20 minutes (I don't know the guy, but he's a local triathlete), KH student and my advisee Pat Englehardt took second with a personal best 21:56. He just keeps getting faster! Damn kid. I came in sixth place with a personal best 22:20. Pat and I compete against each other in a friendly way, so we both push each other to our best. Cheryl and Dee Dee walked the course with our 3 year old Lab Huck who had a blast and knocked over the fish line tape and posts at the end prompting our headmaster to comment "who's dog is that anyway?" A page out of "Marley and Me."

I had a PB because I ran hard due to the believed fact that I would not be racing my bike on Sunday at the SMCC SIP crit. Kennebec Bike and Ski did not have my bike ready for me on Friday and I did not think it would be ready for me Saturday or that I would have the time to pick it up even if it was, as I had a lacrosse game to coach Saturday afternoon.

Upon arrival from the 5K there was a message from Steve at the shop that my bike was finally, indeed ready for pick-up. I jumped in the jeep and got the bike and made it back in time for my game. I rode the bike around campus for about 15 minutes, which is all I would get before I lined up against real deal elite riders (go to Wheel's blog and click on some of his links to some wicked fast Mainers) the following morning. My first legit ride on my rode bike of 2009 was among about 30 elite riders from category 1 to fast cat 4 riders (was I one of those fast cat 4 guys? Perhaps without the intense running effort the day before. I'll know more later in the year when I line up with them again). Suffice to say I was up against it, but curious to see were my fitness was...

Saga of the Speedster

As I posted back on March 20, i dropped my one and only road bike off a Kennebec Bike and Ski for a thorough tune up and upgrade of a part or two. I upgraded to an ultegra 10 speed cassette and Alex at the shop threw it on and proceeded to work the derailleurs for compatibility as I used to run a 9-speed, but have the gear (or so i thought) for 10-speed shifting. All went well until Alex tried to shift using the levers. Turns out my break/shifters are exclusively 9-speed and would not work with my new upgrade. I needed to put the older 9-speed cassette back on or upgrade to 10-speed shifters. Sounds like a nice opportunity to upgrade the brake/shifters to ultegra except for one small problem. The upgrade would cost me around $350, which I certainly don't have. Steve gave me a good deal on a pair of new 105 10-speed brake levers/shifters, but I had to wait for the part to be mailed from shimano AND wait for the next paycheck (I get paid ONCE a month at KHS, which is a serious drag) to pay for the parts and the tune-up work, which is just as important.


Well last week I got a call that that after Alex put the new gear on the left shifter was faulty and was broken right out of the box. I now needed to wait 'till this Tuesday, 4/14 for the new part. To boot, Steve is short handed as John is away on family business and Alex is on vacation. After some poor pitiful me talk on the phone, Steve as told me the bike will be ready by this weekend (I hope you read this Steve!) but hopefully sooner, like this Thursday. I am racing Sunday in the SMCC Saco Industrial Park Criterium (hence forth SIP crit) with Wheels and I REALLY need to log a couple of rides to get used to the road position again, as I've been riding my mt. bike and stationary bike. My fitness is good, but I am dire need of some saddle time on the speedster. So, hopefully Steve will come through (he always does) and get me on the road in a couple of days. Until then, more creative training and wishful thinking!

The Treadmill as Metaphor

So, school has been ridiculously busy and I finish one task to just begin seemingly the same thing all over again, and again and again. This spring is becoming a vicious cycle of committee meetings with follow up meetings, with paper work, followed by memos, directives, emails tagged with annexed resources and addendum's to agendas. Last I knew I was a biology and env. studies teacher, but lately (really the trend has been growing the last two or three years) I spend MUCH more time doing administrative work than teaching or preparing to teach. Something is amiss.

All of this gerbil on the treadmill work makes it all the more important for me to carve out a small slice of time for myself to do what I love (I actually love teaching. I just don't do it much anymore) which is physical training, specifically on my bike. Well, today no bike. It was the literal treadmill in the fitness room of the Alfond. I ran pretty hard for 41 minutes (I like to do one extra minute to sneak it over the edge) with about 1/3 of that at high intensity. I am running the Mark Hazzard Day 5k one week from now, so a few miles in the running shoes is necessary. It felt good to push myself after a few days off and maybe I can salvage this week with four good days of training if I can get some time in over the weekend.

Sorry for the long Break!

I haven't posted for a while because there wasn't much to report and I also just wasn't feeling it. I have been training diligently since January for this coming season, and I guess I've been feeling a bit burned out. Not good when the season hasn't even started yet. School is in full swing and the pace is furious. Due to the make up work and classes from the extended spring break (flu epidemic shut down school) the schedule and workload has been, frankly, way over the top. Add coaching JV Lacrosse, leading a research project to establish Env. Ed as a "Peak of Excellence" and trying to train has got my head spinning. I have only got one ride in this week so far. I guess I can say that I'm due for a rest week, but I'm exhausted anyway, without the training. I'm not sure my body and mind are benefiting from the time off the bike. Actually, I bet I'd feel better if i could ride. I'll try tomorrow if my body (recurring back issue rearing its ugliness again! A relic from my years of physical labor jobs, and proably years of contact sports) and mind are up to it
The only good news is that my sprint training is improving. This is the first year I've done any real sprint training and my rpms are getting higher. I use the stationary bike at the Alfond fitness center because my bike is STILL in the shop (long story for another post) and I only have my Kona mtb bike to ride. Not good for sprint training. My rpms were around 172 on the stationary bike over an 8 second sprint two weeks ago. Last Tuesday (my only ride this week!) I reached 180 rpms on the same program and resistance level. Hopefully I can reach 200 rpms by summer. I hope to do several criteriums this year, hence the sprint work.

First Outdoor Ride of 2009

I took the plunge today and completed my first outdoor ride of 2009. I had to pass up the previous few days of sunny, mild weather because I did not have a bike ready for the road. Saturday, I replaced a tube on my Kona Kula Primo and adjusted the rear disc break to amend some rubbing that was happening between the disc and the break pad. Looking at the weather last night on weatherunderground.com it looked like my only chance for a hypothermic free ride would be today. An arctic cold front is moving down from, well, the arctic and the next few days look to be pretty chilly. Like in the 20's chilly with some wind to boot. The hills are hard enough already without cold arctic wind blowing at ya.
I chose to do a 20 mile loop (I was riding a mountain bike with big knobbys on, so 20 hilly miles is sufficient for a first ride) that brought me out into the hinterlands of Fayette and Wayne. Good, quiet country roads with some good organic decomposition going on, as I rode by a couple of dairy farms with a winter full of manure just now thawing out. This disctinctive smelling decomp reminds me (as if I need reminding, I love it here!) of the rural personality of this land.
I was scheduled (I'm following a CTS training plan) to do several 3 minute zone 5 intervals (he calls them "power intervals." Lots of other coaches despise his naming of already understood techniques, but whether they like him or not, he's good. He's also wicked successful and probable filthy rich, which gives struggling coaches more fuel for their fire) today with specific interval lengths and specific rest periods. This kind of structure is difficult to duplicate on the kinds of roads we have here, so I went with fartlek training instead. Fartlek is Swedish for "speed play." It's perfect for me here because it is unstructured intensity of varying lengths and times. One "interval" may be a 12 second all out sprint, and another a 10 minute steady state effort and anything in between. I attacked every hill I encountered from short, but steep little 10 second out of the saddle sprints to 2-5 minute hills where I went at full VO2 max efforts (even higher than time trial effort. It hurts!) to the half mile and full one mile hills. These longer hills I did at time trial effort, which for me is at a HR between 175-179. To spice it up even more I sprinted DOWN a couple of hills (stay seated going down, unless you have a death wish. I currently don't.) to really turn the peddles over at about 150 rpms . My best out the saddle sprint is 175 rpms. I don't know if that's good or not. I don't sprint enough to really train it. Anyway, you can see I packed a lot in over 20 miles. All said, my legs and lungs felt strong. If I can cut a few pounds, I think I may have good season. It sure would be nice to be at the front for a race or two. I wonder what that feels like?

Speedster At The Spa

I just dropped off my road bike at Kennebec Bike and Ski for a well overdue overhaul/tune-up. The guys at the shop tweaked a few things for me last season, but I forced myself to do as much as possible on my own to save money and learn about bike maintenance. The new ultegra 10 speed cassette is on, so the rear derailleur needs to calibrated for that, the wheels "trued" (adjust any warps in the rims), cable cleaned and/or replaced if needed and shifting worked on. Plus I asked Steve (the shop owner) to check the bottom bracket (you only let someone you trust work on your bottom bracket. Sounds weird in a few ways, but true) as it has been creaking. Hopefully it's an easy fix. Bottom brackets can be finicky and expensive. Finally, I asked the guys to work some magic on my bike computer. I depend heavily on it for cadence info as well as trip miles, speed etc, but mostly cadence. It's not displaying cadence anymore, and even after a couple of hours fiddling with it, I couldn't get it to work, so maybe they can get it going for me.

I hung out for a while and shot the shit with Steve and Alex. Steve says he's going to run the 5K at KHS, so that's pretty cool. He's training for a half marathon for the late spring. Alex is a cool cat who wrenches for the shop. He's a pretty good rider and we talked about doing some rides together this spring. I hope it works out. I'll have pictures of the bike and shop when I pick it up next week.

Mark Hazzard 5k at KHS

I'll be running this 5K race next month. It's at KHS so, if you'd like to run or walk it I'd love to see you there! It should be a cool mix of faculty, students and local runners. I'm looking forward to it, plus its for a good man (I taught Mark's step daughter a few years ago) and a good cause. See the info below provided and organized by KHS faculty and triathlete Meg Bennett.

On Saturday, April 18th at 9:00 am Kents Hill will be holding a 5K walk/run to raise money for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) as a part of Mark Hazzard Day.
The Course: The race will start by the campus art gallery, wind around campus, turn right onto route 17, and right onto P-Ridge. At the top of P-Ridge there will be a turnaround point. There will be a water station at this point as well. On both the out and back sections of Route 17, participants must stay on the CAMPUS side of the road and inside the cones.

Note to students: Students who have athletic competitions that day must check with coaches first before signing up to run. Remember that the course can also be walked and that this is for a great cause!

Entry Fee: The entry fee will be $5 for ALL students and children under 16, and $12 for faculty/adults. Our goal is to have all of this money go to the local ALS group. All registrations need to be in by Friday, April 10th. Make checks payable to Kents Hill School and to the attention of Meghan Bennett. If you are planning on participating, please send me an email so that I have an idea of potential race numbers.

Volunteers: If you are unable to participate in the walk/run, volunteers are needed. Please contact me if you are interested in helping out!

Awards: As of now, awards will be given to the top male and female overall, and to the top KH male and female student. Stay tuned as there may be more awards given out.

Refreshments: There will be water, gatorade, and fruit at the finish line.

PLEASE JOIN US ON APRIL 18th TO SUPPORT A GREAT PERSON AND A GREAT CAUSE!

Roche Family Visit

My sister, Heather, her husband Michael and children Noah and Riley came north from Merrimack, MA for a visit this weekend. We had a great time of eating, drinking, laughing and sledding on the Kents Hill Ski Hill. The kids have a blast and the adults even climb aboard for a ride or two. A beautiful, warm day to spend outside.We ended the day with lunch at the Liberal Cup and then parted ways. Cheryl and I hope to have them up in August this year so they can see how beautiful this region is during the summer. I would love to take the kids fishing on our little boat that Guy gave me.

Rattle River Winter Hike

Some Pictures of Ross and Me during our annual winter back trip trip. This Year we went backpack to the Wild River Wilderness near Gorham, NH and did the Rattle River trail up towards Mount Mariah and Shelbourn Peak .We headed out Tuesday, March 10 and hiked a few hours up the Rattle River Trail near the new;y designated Wild River Wilderness in the White Mountains near the Maine, NH boarder. We like this area because it is little used, due to it's wild character. People like roads and mechanized access and Wilderness designation prohibits that, so no snow machines, ATV's etc in these woods. Just the way we like it! Anyway, we were planning on staying two nights but woke too sleet/freezing rain Wednesday morning and high winds. Miserable weather to climb/hike on a mountain ridge. We reluctantly packed back to the trail head and called it over. Perhaps one of these years we can put together a few days of decent weather. We'll try again next year.

Steady States Intervals, Snow Shoveling & Dave Does the Tour de Syracuse

My training the last two weeks have consisted of steady state intervals to start to crank up the intensity for the power intervals heading my way later in March and April. Cross training has been in the form of snow shoveling deep snow, pushing cars and trucks out of deep snow, walking through deep snow, and full body shivering as the high temps at Kents Hill are a whopping 23 degrees and lows -4 earlier this week. Finally, today we reached 41 degrees. Will it last? Doubt it! It's March, but someone tell that to Earth!

Good news! My brother, who is a fellow bike freak and recovering football player has just registered for the Tour de Syracuse in May. He will be competing in the road race and then the criterium (sort of like NASCAR, but on bikes. Complete with gnarly crashes. Stay in front, Dave away from the drama!). Check it out at http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8014 to see the details. I have four words for you, Dave to live by for the next 8 weeks: Power Intervals, Descending Intervals. Have fun (Not!)

Snow Dogs

Kents Hill Communute.

Murph Girl on the trails with Dad. She was having so much fun. It was good to see the old girl enjoying herself!

She looks miserable, but only because I was holding her back for a forced photo. She wanted to run, or what passes for running for this nearly 13 year old girl now. She's a trail blazer at heart.

KH XC Ski

Kents Hill School. Just a few steps from XC ski and snowshoe trails. I love It!

Groomed trails just 10 yard from my back steps.

Into the Woods.

I crashed and grabbed my camera so quickly I still have snow up my nose!

I am fortunate enough to live at the dorrstep of a couple of hundred acres of groomed XC ski trails. I ventured out for a two hour ski tuesday and was soooo happy to be in the woods. I've recently heard someone say that they get board hiking, walking, snow shoeing or skiing in the woods and I get close to being indignant when I hear this. I JUST DON"T GET IT. The woods are like a novel to me. So many sub plots and so many stories being told. Every time I venture into the woods I am overwhelmed with information. You just have to have an ecologocal educaton, and if you lack that, like many young children, curioisty will make a walk in the woods exciting. It did for me. My best childhood memories are those of me and my friends or my brother and sisiter exploring in the woods. You just open your eyes and your senses. I am blessed to live in rural Maine.