Sunday, February 14, 2010

Disease of More

Cyclist are commonly afflicted with the disease of more. While for most cyclist it is the desire for more new toys; for racers it is true to an even greater extent when it comes to training. If a racer finishes second usually the first thought is "if I trained more then I would be first". If a racer is unable to go with a break then it is "if I did more intervals I would be able to go with that move". If a racer has dead legs and falls off the back it is "if I did more long easy rides and had a good base my legs wouldn't be dead".

I have to admit I'm as afflicted as the next racer. My success in sports has always been my willingness to out work and out prepare my opponent versus pure natural ability. As I've moved up in cycling, it's harder because the distances are longer and the competition is tougher but the amount of time and energy that I have to train while balancing work and home stays the same. Recently as I transitioned from cross to road, I was especially symptomatic until the wiser, more experienced (read "older") racers on my team told me that more training wasn't the answer. As obvious as it may seem to the rest of the world; I, like most cyclist, couldn't admit that maybe my body needed rest. What a novel idea!!!

Now I've completed almost 2 weeks of rest. I've commuted 3 times and other then that haven't been on a bike. I know the rest was seriously needed because I haven't been jonesing for the bike which typically starts after 2-3 days away. Also, I've decided to get smarter about how I train and go for more quality over quantity. To do that I made the hard decision to sell one of my favorite toys, my Garmin Edge 705, and bought a used PowerTap. Training with power is a new venture for me but I'm excited about the potential and possibilities it brings. "More" to come...........


Sunday, February 7, 2010

New Braunfels Road Race

After my disappointing legs from Copperas Cove, I was hoping for better sensations at the Tour of New Braunfels. It started with a 48 mile road race in south San Antonio that was made up of 3 twisty 16 mile laps.

We arrived at the race start early and the weather was temperatures in the upper 30s with light winds. My legs didn't feel great so I rode a lap of the course to flush them out and get a feel for roads. We lined up with Alec, Jesse, Jonathan, and Mike Reed. The race started off fairly smoothly and I moved up near the front with several attacks. Jonathan took off on a solo break again and Mike Reed was patrolling the front. Unfortunately, I didn't have the focus and begin to slip back in the pack. With the frequent twist and turns of the course it was like a crit with hard accelerations out of each corner. By the end of the first lap my legs and mind lacked the will to continue and I feel out the back of the pack. I rode the next two laps solo and the legs started to feel better by the end.



Pat and Richmond both gave words of caution after the race about burning out but I though everything would be okay and looked forward to racing the circuit race at Canyon Lake the following day. I woke up Sunday morning completely crispy. I barely wanted to walk the dogs much less ride or race. I decided to heed the advice of my experienced peers and will take some time off. It was great this past week to let it all go but when this weekend rolled around and my teammates were racing it was hard not to be out there. Hopefully another week of taking it easy and then I can start building towards some form again.