New Gear!

With the help of a Christmas LL Bean gift certificate and some gift B-Day money I was able to upgrade my cassette to Ultegra 10 speed. I have been riding a 9- speed for the last two seasons and it has been fine, but with the 10-speed I will have two extra gears (I ride a double, not a triple ring up front) which should give me more flexibility and cadence options riding theses foothills of central Maine. I hope to ride more road races/criteriums also this year, so this should help as these races demand more variability in cadence (peddle rpm) efforts.

I also scored two new Michelin Pro Race 3 tires! these are high end tires that are fast and light. I got them on sale for $35 when they retail at Bean's for $50. Even $50 is a good price for these because the local shops up this way usually have them at about $55. I was so surprised at the price i asked the bike shop manager at Bean's if they were damaged or factory seconds. He assured me they were not and that they just had a surplus of them from last year as most of their business is from pretty tame recreational riders who would not bother with these tires. So, I'm close to being ready for the '09 season. Just a new chain, complete tune-up and maybe, hopefully some new brakes. Kinda important!

Illness Getting in the Way

I have felt lousy the past two days. A seriously sore throat with swelling and lots of chest congestion, achy body and fatigue from not being able to sleep well. I wanted to snowshoe yesterday afternoon or evening in the fresh new snow, but I was just too tired and feeling awful. I got 45 minutes on the bike this past Monday and followed it up by immediately running on the track at the YMCA for another 30 minutes. I'm trying to sneak in an hour a week of running (nothing nutty. Just some easy running with a few up tempo minutes here and there) because I'm thinking of running a 5K, Saturday, Feb 14 in Portland. Something to to keep me motivated. Anyway, I was HURTING this morning when I crawled out of bed. After finishing with my classes, I skulked back home, crawled back into bed and slept for hours. Feeling better after some sleep and lots of water, I actually rode the trainer in the basement for 45 minutes nice and easy (if there is such a notion). The workout was helpful, as getting a light sweat on and clearing out my chest (gross, but necessary) was needed to stimulate a little vitality back into me. I'm feeling a bit better, not great, but I better watch it. If I push it I could be sick for awhile and that would really mess things up. More sleep tonight and we'll see what the morning brings.

39 Is The New 30 !

Well I turn 39 in a few hours and I guess I'm OK with it. Not thrilled, but I'll get over it. I guess it helps I'm immature for my age!
I was thinking of growing out a goatee again this year, but I noticed the first gray hair of my life has sprouted in force on my chin. Hence, no goatee. Oh, the vanity! Sad, but true.

velonews.com has a good article about a pro racer in the euro tour who is 4o yrs old. Check out the story at velonews.com.

Also,

I finished another week of training. I had a bit of a set back as I was aiming for 10 hours but finished with 7hrs. I had weekend duty which means I was assigned various tasks/duties to keep the KHS train up and running over the weekend. I snowshoed lazily the following Monday and then 75 minutes of bike trainer Tuesday. I was once again in the dorm Tuesday night, as that is my weekday dorm duty slot. So, with a late Sunday night, another late Tuesday night of work and then advisor reports due Wednesday afternoon (A report home to the parents of my advisees on how the year is going for them thus far), I was not able to get much training in. I did manage to get a ride in Thursday and then two back to back 2 hr rides in this past Saturday and Sunday, so at least I finished the week with some good saddle time. I'm off to a good start this week. Hopefully it will hold. I'm excited about the 10-15 inches of snow forcasted for us Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a good long snowshoe with Huck in some fresh powder this week. He'll have a blast. This may be the most serious Huck has ever looked. He is such a goofball!

The Torture Machine!

Scott Speedster on an Elite Fluid Trainer. The torture machine! Notice the sweat guard attached to the handle bars to the seat post. This keeps salty sweat from corroding metal.

Rear wheel on the trainer barrel with fluid/plasma component for resistance. The fluid compartment gets super hot after an hour or two of friction. All I need to do is shift gears for added resistance, just like on the road. It's a great way to manipulate varying intensities and conditions without ever coasting or soft peddling, like you can get away with on the road if you just want to frolic around. There is no frolicking on the trainer!

Two hours is mind numbing and very hard on the body. Lets just say it takes some physical and mental conditioning to endure 120 minutes peddling nowhere in ones basement. It take commitment to a plan and it's like saving for a huge gift to yourself that you'll only realize months later. "Faith" is a good way to describe subjecting yourself to 10 hours/wk of trainer work in the doldrums of winter. I listen to music, daydream of cycling glory and immerse myself in the physical rhythm of the workout. Lance isn't the only one who likes to suffer!

Trainer Stress

My training space. The dogs and my Ipod keep me comapny. The dryer keeps me warm in a 30 degree basement!

The bike stable above: Dance with the one who brung ya!

I got an email from a felow bike freak regarding my effort to baby my road bike and not put so many miles on it. Current trainers put little stress on the frame and components for the average rider, but here is my reply and some of my thoughts...

You’re right. It doesn’t place undo stress on the frame if you and I are just spinning or doing tempo or interval work while seated. But remember who those tests and reviews are focused on: 130-180lb riders who even if they stand up and do a sprint or even just stand for 10-60 seconds to mix up your position/muscle involvement while on the trainer don't put nearly as much stress on the rear hub/wheel and frame as my current 225lbs. Never mind your 255lbs+ ! (This guy was recently 300lbs and loss weight riding. Bikes Rule! Guess who family! ) Also, I have next to nothing for money for upgrades currently as we're saving for a down payment for a home, so even putting miles on last years Dura Ace chain, rear cassette and wear on the front cranks and rings makes a difference in how many actual road miles I can milk out of my current set-up. I would much rather use a stationary bike right now than my speedster on the trainer. That said, I'm working with a local bike mechanic to get an old specialized mtb bike rideable on the cheap so I can put a road slick on the rear and ride to my hearts content on the trainer, Until then it's 1/2 stationary bike at the local YMCA (I go off hours so people don't curse at me for monopolizing it), 1/4 on the trainer in the basement and 1/4 cross training on XC skis or snowshoes. Your CycleOps2 Fluid trainer is a choice piece of equipment! If you don't do any serious out of the saddle thrashing and don't mind replacing the chain or rear cassette a couple of months earlier than usual than knock yourself out.
I'm looking forward to riding with you again this summer. We'll stretch it out a bit this time!

Week Two Down!

Last Sunday I finished my second week of off-season training. It is a base/foundation 4wk cycle and I notched 9.5 hours of bike time. The weekend had me doing back to back two hour days on the bike. Actually I used the stationary bike at the Alfond Athletic Center here at KHS. It works for me. I can easily manipulate the intensity (or lack there of) and watch cable TV, which is not an option for me on my trainer in the basement at home. I also do not like putting on the miles on my road bike if I can help it. I need to really baby my Scott Speedster as I won't be getting any new ride soon.
Come Monday my legs were pretty heavy and I was ready for a day off! Didn't happen though. I snowshoed in the Readfield Town Forest accompanying a student of mine who is doing an indepenedent study on Forestry. We met Harold Burnett of Two Trees Forestry who he is job shadowing and members of the Readfield Conservation Commission. We reviewed the logging operation that is under way in the town forest and I got to see what my student was learning.
The walking was easy with lots of stops and it was a nce day in the woods. Most days are!
Week three is 10 hours. I logged 75 minutes Tuesday snowshoeing with Huck. We got about 10-12 inches of beautiful powder Sunday and it was a blast walking through it. Good cross training and strenght training as I had to lift my knees high to break trail. I will probably do one more day of snowshoing or XC skiing later this week to mix up the training a bit. Keep it fresh!

A Walk in the Woods

Last Saturday night I went for a snowshoe in the back 40 (closer to back 200 than 40) on the Kents hill trails. The night was gorgeous! The moon so bright I could have read a book under her light. I took Huck with me. Murph Girl stayed by the house. She's getting on in years and not always up for a stroll. I take Huck. Enjoy our time, but always remember the epic hikes I’ve had with Murph. She's a true trail blazer! Anyway, Huck and I went out for about an hour. I could not believe the amount of snowshoe hare sign I saw. Some biologists do not think Hares cycle in population (Booms and Busts) in lower latitudes like they do in the Canadian provinces, but in my humble and informed opinion I see lots of evidence that hares are at or near a population peak right now in Maine. State biologists are finding more and more Lynx in Maine and this makes sense due to the fact that Lynx prey almost exclusively on hares. When I worked on a Lynx/Hare research project in Montana we found similar cycles there as well. I also came across many coyote tracks in pursuit of the bunnies and one set of bobcat tracks. Pretty cool! Tracking is so much fun for me and there is so much to learn in the woods from animal sign. Huck actually flushed a bunny and chased the hell out of it while I ran screaming at Huck. He came back bounding to me all smiles with no sign of malice in/on him. A Huckleberry is no match for a snowshoe hare that is supremely evolved to avoid and escape much more experienced hunters than my lover, not a fighter Hucklebear. The worst he did was cause the bunny to burn some valuable calories when it shouldn't have.
I wish I could have stayed out longer, but I rode 2 hours on the stationary bike at the August YMCA earlier in the afternoon and my body was spent. It won’t be the last time I take a moonlit snowshoe!

Week One is in the Books and In the Legs!

Hike a few miles up a glacier. It's great cross-training!

Last Sunday I finished my first week of my winter training program. I got 9 hours in! A great start to a winter that hopefully has me ripping by April for my first races (training criteriums in Saco). There is NO way I could have completed 9 hours a year or two ago without completely having my body cave in, but with three years of good mileage (I snuck in over 5,300 miles in 08, 3500 in 07 and 2500 in 06. These miles do not include the running, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing that I include in my lifestyle. Cross training is the key to keeping fresh for me) and training with structure has my legs feeling great and my heart rate in the 40's (waking HR, first thing in the morning).
I rode six days last week with minimum rides of 60 minutes and max of 2 hours a pop. All training rides were completed in Zone 2 Heart Rate (HR) overall with some bouts of intensity that got the HR up to zone 3 and 4. Zone 2 for me is about 140-150 beats per minute (bpm) and zone 3 is about 150-160 bpm. To put it in perspective, my time trial (TT) HR is about 176-179 bpm. This is the intensity I can hold with consistent power for the duration of a 15-18 mile race. It is intense, challenging and quite painful and yet fun. I know, I'm sick. Anyway, Most of the 9 hours was completed at about 140-145 bpm and I did a few minutes of high speed pedaling, getting my cadence (rpms) up around 110-120 rpms for about 3 minutes at a time. This is done in an easy gear so my HR doesn’t get up over 155bpm. Also I did a few "power stomps" where I get to a standstill and then push as hard as I can in the biggest gear I have for 10 seconds to build some strength and power. I get out of the seat (hence forth known as the "saddle") stomp hard for a few revolutions and then sit down for the last few seconds. It’s not really a sprint because the first few rpm's are so slow. It's a meant to be a power builder. Sunday was a 2 hour ride with 45 minutes of "tempo" work. I completed this with 45 minutes of continues riding in zone 3 and my average HR for this was 155bpm. For the 2 hours it was 143bpm. The tempo work will hopefully increase my "cruising" speed where I can go fast without putting much pressure on the peddles.
As long as I keep the easy spin days REALLY easy and get plenty of rest and fuel before and eat well during recovery, I think I can keep up the hours. Week 2 two will be 9.5 to 10 total hours, again in zone 2. The higher intensities will came in late Feb. and March when I have a super strong aerobic engine (cycle speak for “wicked fit"). I'll get some pictures of me on the trainer so you can see just how nutty it looks.

Gun Nuts And Proud Of It!

This is how to spend your time during the long, cold days of a Maine winter: Shooting high powered guns!
Chris Scott and I went west over to Belgrade to a friends house compound and worked to site in Chris' Browning 270. The weather was rugged! Heavy snow and wind from the northwest at about 12-15 mph and in the low teens. Seriously, around zero or a bit below with the wind chill. No matter. We had a rifle to site in. Chris' 270 is virtually brand new and needed some rounds shot through it to break it in and get the scope set. It proved a bit difficult due to the fact that the rifle has a BOSS muzzle break on it that reduces recoil but makes it initially more difficult to get it sited in well (for the uninitiated, this means we were working to get the rifle shooting accurately with the scope, so where you aim it, the bullet hits. You shoot 1-3 rounds, check were they hit and make minute adjustments to the scope to bring the bullet up/down, left/ right. We finally got it pretty square, but will have to do some more work on it in the spring so it will shoot accurately qt 100 yards and beyond. Anyway, a good time spent in the Maine countryside!

Running Keeps Things Fresh

Oh, Yeah. I ran a few road races last year also. The Winthrop July, 4 5K (22:40), the Stratham Fair 5.7 mi. race (44 min), the Lakeside Orchard 5K (23:05) and the yankee homecomming 5K(23:30 ish) with my sister, Heather and about literally 1800 other people. As usual, I ran off the start flying and then would later hit the wall. No experience and too much nerves!. Notice Heather looking happy and refreshed after a well run race and me, exhausted and barely able to stand. One of these days I learn to pace myself! I had a great time despite the pain (the Stratham Fair race was on a Saturday and this race was the following tuesday night. Ouch!) and I loved spending time with my siter and Mom who was there to cheer us on. I'm lucky to have such a loving and supportive family.

Photos by Cheech (AKA Cheryl).

MTB Madness!

Cheryl. My biggest fan.

I have never felt pain like the kind I experienced racing at the Grill Z Mountain Bike Race in Georgetown Maine last September. What a challenge!

What the hell have I got myself into!!!

One lap to go!
Thanks for your support. Lets go home.

2007/08 Years In Review

A few photos, all taken by Cheryl Howe Moore. My Blog prowess is in the early stages of evolution, but like the Theory of Punctuated Equlibrium (Oh, yeah, I'm a biology nerd as well), my skills will surge after a some undertermined time of stasis. I will not go into detail of the races some of these photos are taken from. Suffice to say, they were all epic , at least in my own mind.

Communting from my Mom's home in Stratham, NH to UNH for grad school, summer of 2008. Loaded down with a backpack full of clothes, lunch, 1/2 gallon of water and notebooks. Great power training! I was wicked fast after a month of this!

Mid Coast TT Sept 06

Belast TT, June 2008 with my make due speed suite of a Kona bib (thanks, Wheels!) and a KHS Under Armour T-shirt. It worked very well!Belast TT, June 2008 with my make due speed suite of a Kona bib (thanks, Wheels!) and a KHS Under Armour T-shirt. It worked very well!
The homemade speed suite worn by a nervous pre-race rider!

The Belfast TT, 2007. 15lbs heavier and no speed suite and nearly 3 minutes slower than in '08. Also notice my hand position in '07 compared t0 '08. I'm slowly learning how to cut wind drag!

More Belafast '08 Photos. Cheryl was having fun. Notice the tricked out TT bike in front of me as I wait for my start. HED disc wheel on a carbon Aeigis bike. A $4000 bike! My Scott Speedster with my upgrades: maybe $1800-$2000. I love it when I pass these bikes!

Some Backround

May 5, 2006, Mid-Coast TT. Football Coach Meets Bike

I've created this blog to chronicle my passion for riding. I guess it's presumptive of me to think that anyone else would care about my riding and training exploits, but I know I'm not the only fanatic out there. So, if you want to check in with me to see what I 'm up to with my training this winter, share some of your thoughts and training experiences with me, or just want to peak into the life of a boarding school teacher obsessed with biking, please feel free. But first some background:

I'm a former college football lineman who, unitll a few years ago weighed 265lbs spread over my 6'3" body. Not quite bicycle friendly proportions. I had been schlepping myself around the roads and trails of Missoula, Montana and then Kents Hill, Maine with my football body. Every ride hurt. I mean HURT! There are no flats in central maine. Lots and lots of hills. In fact EVERY ride I do ends with a mile climb up to my home near the top of Kents Hill. Easy spin day? Finish in the red zone with a climb. Intervals? End in the redzone with a climb, tempo ride? Forgot zone 2 or 3. Finish in zone 4 or 5 with a climb. Recovery Rides? Forgot about it. Climb. So here I am riding my speacialized mountain bike in the granny gear having an argument in my head on EVERY ride whether I should stop, get off the bike and walk. It would happen every ride, these demons in my head, but I never, NEVER got off the bike. Then comes August 2005:
I finally have enough money to buy a decent road bike. A Scott Speedster. I ride a bit through the fall, but never really committ to big miles. Boarding school committments keep me off the bike just enough to keep me yearning for more. Winter comes and I hit the weights big time out of sheer habit. I'm not coaching, so I work out hard. By Febuary I'm a fairly lean (by big man standards) 265lbs, can squat 500lbs and can bench press 225lbs 21 times. I'm Jacked!
I win the KHS winter carnival tug o' war pretty much single handadly and then I come to a pathetic realization: My competitive fire has been reduced to a high school tug of war competition. I quit lifting weights the next day and ride the stationary bike at the YMCA six days a week. I make a goal of loosing 25 lbs by May 5, the Mid Coast Time Trial in Rockport. The winter is mild and I'm able to ride outside by spring break. The pounds start to shedd. May comes and I'm 240 lbs and I feel great. I finsh the TT and am elated. Now I m Hooked. I continue to ride and drop more weight. The upper body muscle mass goes first then some stuborn body fat. By mid summer I'm racing at 225-230 lbs. I do the second midcoast TT in septmeber and finishe 2:30 minutes faster than in May. October comes and I buy a Blakburn Trainer, a training book by Chris Carmichael (I figured he might know a thing or two) and hit it hard over the winter. My competition weight for '07 is now a consistent 220lbs and I'm at least two minutes faster in all my races. Fall of 2007 rolls around and I score a beautiful Kona Kula Primo mountain bike with the help of KHS colleague and pro mtb rider Todd Wheelden bikeracingwheels.blogspot.com and I race a couple of MTB races during the 2008 season and my competion weight is 210 lbs. I'm a thin man at last! Lean and healthy and getting faster. My body image changes and I embrace the idea of being an endurance athlete for the first time in my life. Now, it's not how much I can bench press, but how far and fast I can go on my bike. I am transformed and I love it!
2009 has me as excited as ever. I plan on focusing a bit more on the MTB races and to do a few more criteriums. But first, I must train. Time to clean the basement and dust off the trainer!