Tipping Point

This sophomore slump is finished. Some bizarre phenomenon Seth Godin refers to as 'The Dip' takes hold of most enterprises and depresses performance after a period of initial success. This has been my year of cycling and I am pushing through it. Great success last year, burnout, lack of commitment this winter and early spring, low interest in competing, and no fire driving training has produced the cliche this year. Now I sit, two races left on the calendar and I have commitments both weekends. Next year will be different.

1. Train like you mean it. I didn't push myself to the proper degree this year. Not enough solo training. Short intervals. Too much time off the bike in between sessions. The family excuse doesn't hold water, which I am happy to discover. I was told most guys who race have families and careers the juggle. How is it they perform better than me. Not acceptable.

2. Schedule like you mean it. I have to plan training weeks out at least two weeks in advance to prevent conflict.

3. ID races early and PREREGISTER as soon as possible. Once I am financially committed I will follow through. When I slack off and don't sign up, I let other things creep up and dictate my schedule.

I am better than how I raced this year. I am better than how I trained this year. Giving less than my all leaves me with a gnawing dissatisfaction that becomes toxic.

These are learnings of the Dip. Rather than cause me to throw in the towel, it has become diesel fuel, burning long and hot. I will be different this time next year.

August: 1 group per week. VO2 max training

September: 1-2 groups per week. VO2 max intervals.

October: move to weight room, pool, trails, road running, etc. 3 DAYS CARDIO, 2 DAYS STRENGTH.

November: 3 DAYS CARDIO, 2 DAYS STRENGTH.

December: 2 DAYS STRENGTH, 3 DAYS CARDIO. transition back to bike with long tempo rides & technique

2010 Crossroads

Sometimes you just need a break. I am typically one who likes to be over-prepared and over-trained for any competitive environment I jump into but this time, I just needed a break. I had two weeks in a row off, two weeks I was on vacation. The only substantive bike time I had during those weeks were found in the saddle of beach cruisers with a child on the back. I did get a few sprint intervals in to the delight of my five year old whose response was "Do it again daddy! Go fast!" My own relaxation being the driving value for those two weeks, I entered into the Crossroads series with quite a bit of suspicion as to my fitness and level of competition.

Crossroads is a series of five criterium races that take place on five consecutive nights in small towns around Charlotte. Lasting Tuesday through Saturday this year, my family and work schedule permitted me only to race on Thursday and Friday nights.

Thursday night saw me driving to Salisbury NC in the middle of an apocalyptic lightning storm. Strong winds, severe lightning, torrential rains, and periods of hail accompanied the cold front that rolled through the piedmont of the Carolinas that evening. The cat 4/5 race was the first on the docket, slated to kick off at 6:15 in the evening. Preparations, registrations and warmups were made in the rain. As we lined up at the start to receive instructions, the field, nearly 60 in all, listened with a nervous energy that was heightened by the spectacular lightning strikes all around. The whistle blew and the field was off. I missed the hole shot as I was in the back. Crash 1 took out 4-5 guys in turn 1, a foreshadowing of the carnage that would take place over the next 30 minutes. The first three laps I worked my way from the back to the middle of the pack. Not taking too many chances in the corners and accelerating coming out of the turns. In turn 7 of lap 3, there was a crash in front of me. A junior went down hard, bike and body sliding across wet pavement. Sparks flying from the bike and the sound of flesh sliding on asphalt. The guy in front of me was caught out. Nothing he could do but go straight over the fallen rider, falling in spectacular form himself. I was next in line, locked my brakes momentarily then ran out my line to avoid falling. My line led me to bunny hop the curb and ride through sidewalk and grass back onto the road before continuing.

"That will get your heart going!" I said to the racer next to me who also managed to avoid the pileup. The wild look in his eye said he understood exactly what I meant. The remainder of the race was a tale of piles of bike and people in every other turn, some of which forced us to slow and avoid. I was with five other racers who were strong enough to be at the front but were caught up in the madness. We formed a chase group and held the gap to a minute 12 seconds behind the eventual winner. Soaked to the bone, road grit all over, I stayed upright and felt fairly good about my performance considering all.

The next night we raced in Statesville. 10 minutes to the start the skies opened up again for a repeat of the night before. Fortunately, the race unfolded in a completely different way. This was a day for the breakaway. The roads were soaked which prevented overly aggressive riding on my part. I maintained a good pace and finished between 15 & 20 in the main field out of the 60+ who started.

The best part was I enjoyed the racing. Last year, if I didn't win, I was disappointed. This year, I raced hard, made a few tactical errors but walked away at the end of the day having enjoyed the war. That is true progress!

I am not sure if I am to race again this year. I will see what opens up. I am excited about enjoying the group rides and continuing to build my legs. A seasoned racer told me earlier this year that it takes quite a few years to build the muscle memory that is necessary for strong racing. That being said, I feel great that year 2 of racing I had 3 criterium races and rode competitively as a cat 4 for each of them. The future is wide open.

Race Recap

Looking for the nearest seat & waterbottle. Totally drained.

The sprint for fourth (missed it by a couple of inches)

The face tells it all. In the hurt locker.

Unloading the finishing sprint. not much left at this point.

Tucked in the group...

...the group that did not want to work very hard.

Shirts unzipping, water consumption. HOT!

2010 State Games:

Toeing the line at 2:30pm on June 27, the finishing straight in Mooresville NC is radiating heat. My face feels as if I just opened up the oven to pull out my kids fish sticks. The heat makes the nose burn, eyes water, and brow sweat effortlessly. This is my first race since the end of last year and I am nervous. I didn't finish so well a year ago and I wonder if I will be able to hang with these guys, most of whom look extremely fit.

The first few laps are predictable. I feel better in the turns than last year thanks, in part, to improved technical skills acquired through targeted training. Thanks Orr Rd. Winded after about 5 minutes, the wind offers no solace from the heat. My water has warmed to air temperature and only provides moisture to wet my frighteningly dry mouth. Going into turn three, my computer sensor on my front wheel issues a loud, "POP" as it gets caught in a spoke. It goes flying from my front wheel into a garden on the side of the road. (I went back and found it after the race. No telling if it still works.)

On the next lap a CBC racer asks if I am feeling good enough to make a go of it coming out of turn four. I tell him if he can wait a couple of laps I will go with him. I do not know how my legs will respond this early to such a power output. I fear cramping and having to drop out. We had noticed the group expend energy on the hill before turn four and then slow as they entered the finishing straight. As they slowed this time, the CBC rider went. I am out of position and forced to watch his acceleration. It would be the last I saw him. He was the winner of the day.

I spent most of the rest of the race chasing but no one else wanted to work with me. I was in the position, therefore, of having to chase down every attack that came from behind. By the end of the race, most of the group had dropped due to the heat or was in my group. We began unloading the sprint coming out of turn four. I positioned poorly and took fifth, missing fourth by three inches.

Physically, I felt pretty good. Tactically, I performed pretty poorly and forced myself to work harder than I needed to. All in all, however, I had a great time. Friends and family were out to cheer me on. I sat in the shade, drinking ice cold gatorade, reveling in the gratification of a race contended well. The adrenaline lasted the rest of the day and turned my mind to thinking about when I might be able to race again!

For now, my attention turns to crossroads. The day after the race, my body feels great; better than it has all year. I am ready to go.

Monday: 30 minute recovery w/ light intervals HBP

Tuesday: Orr Rd

Wednesday: regeneration/strength day in the gym

Thursday: COCAC515

Friday: Sprint intervals

Saturday: 45 minute recovery

Sunday: 4th of July-OFF

Two Weeks to Go

Orr Rd this week. I'm riding at the front of the group, right in the middle of this shot.

I almost did it last week. The NC criterium championships were this past weekend and I had a good week training. On friday i was seriously considering driving up to Salisbury to compete. I decided against it with great difficulty. The target remains NC state games on the 27th. Here is the goal this week:

Monday: strength/regenerate

Tuesday: Orr Rd

Wednesday: strength/regenerate

Thursday: COCAC5:15

Friday: Crit intervals at HBP

Saturday: regenerate

Sunday: rest

3 Weeks and Counting

It seems every day is an opportunity for the development of discipline. I was searching a regional cycling website last week and learned of a series of races this weekend, the State Criterium Championships. Here is a YouTube video explaining, at a base level, criterium racing. Glimpsing an opportunity, I decided to test myself last week. Had I finished in the top few spots on the Thursday morning group ride, I would have entered the race this weekend to compete. I didn't have to worry about that.

So this week returns to targeted Crit training. Saturday morning's ride was very tough for me and I found myself discouraged with the strenuous output and meager showing. This week is focusing on rest and strenuous output. I am nervous about the Orr Rd ride on Tuesday night.

Monday: strength/recovery

Tuesday: Orr Rd (simulated Crit competition w up to 100 riders all categories. Orr Rd = FAST)

Wednesday: strength/recovery

Thursday: COCAC

Friday: 45 min 20s intervals & regeneration

Saturday: 1-2 hr hill intervals

Sunday: OFF

4 weeks to go

I used them all. I was deep into my bag of excuses and not making myself feel any better. My lungs burned and stomach was in the throes of cramping. The legs felt as if they could cramp at any moment. I was beyond the red line and the group was still pedaling slowly away from me. I settled in to wait for the group coming from behind. Once I met up with them, we got organized and the chase began. Fifteen miles later our group of 8 was down to three and the men ahead of us were in our sights. Steeling our gaze on the group ahead and galvanizing our will, we worked as one unit, pulling through, rotating, resting, pulling through, and on and on and on until, at last, we caught them. It was an epic chase and served to redeem the early ride for me. I averaged 22.9mph at the end of it, not bad for starting at 5:15am. It was a wake up call to both body and will.

Every week has a theme, this week is weather.

Monday: memorial day-rain all day

Tuesday: 25 min before rain hit

Wednesday: Recovery/lift

Thursday: COCAC5:15

Friday: 90 min tempo

Saturday: recovery

Sunday: Off

5 Weeks to Go

Last week didn't go as planned. It happens. Now I am fighting the tendency to be discouraged that I was not able to train as I wanted. I got bike time on Friday and Saturday, was sick the rest of the week. Instead of focusing on the disappointment, I am choosing to focus on the highlight. Saturday morning I met up with Justin McKibben, my wife's uncle, at a city park just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Justin got me into biking, letting me borrow his old bike to ride once he got his new baby, a beautiful Trek Madone. I rode his old bike for a year until I found myself hopelessly in love with the sport and could justify a bike of my own. Justin told me of this fabled route through farmland, over hills, by the lake and over perfect roads. He did not disappoint. It was an amazing morning! Temps that were warm enough to ride without arm or leg warmers yet cool enough so I didn't need the two water bottles I brought (I sweat a lot and have to drink a lot when I ride distance). We put in 28 miles and had a great time; talking, 'suffering like dogs,' and enjoying the beauty of the East Tennessee morning. Here are a few shots I took on the ride. Thanks, Justin!

This week I am hoping to get 4 days of on the bike training. Here is the plan for the week:

Monday: Recovery/floor exercises

Tuesday: COCAC 5:15 (group ride leaving at 5:15am that has gotten much faster over the past couple of years. we usually get in 30ish miles and average 22 or so. Fun ride if I can get up for it.)

Wednesday: recovery/lift, Gym

Thursday: COCAC 5:15

Friday: 20s intervals in Huntersville Business Park (HBP)

Saturday: early hour to hour and a half. hill intervals. easier pace.

Sunday: Day off. My son, Liam, turns 3!

As Jon Foreman (lead singer for switchfoot) says, "every breath is a second chance." Lets see how this week goes.

Six Weeks to Go

This blog is about personal accountability now, not as much for consumption of others. If you are reading, I am surprised and you are welcome but these words exist to focus and motivate me.

Six weeks from now is the State Games of NC. It will be my first race of the year and I am no where close to ready. CFC team meeting last night I ran into people who race all the time. That is not me no matter how much I might like to. I have to pick races that help get me close to my goal and that match proper pacing for my family. June 27 seems like a nice convergence of the two. Plus, it is near father's day and I can pull that card to get me in the race.

This week is odd. We are traveling two days. Arin is traveling another two days. Bike time looks minimal. On top of that, our kids have been sick and kind enough to transfer their funk to me. I am fighting mental insanity of not training with my body telling me to lie low and get over this illness. So this week, here is my training:

Monday: Recovery day

Tuesday: Diagnosed w/ Strep. Rest Day

Wednesday: Wife out of town-Off

Thursday: Wife out of town-Off

Friday: Ride in Knoxville

Saturday: Ride in Knoxville with friends

Sunday: Recovery

The best intentions...This week has potential to be a training disaster. We'll see.

Goals

So I have learned something about myself. As driven of a person as I am, it is necessary for my mental health (and physical too!) that I set fitness goals. Without them I flounder. When I set goals, however, I find that perfectionistic discipline that will not allow me to do anything half-way takes over. Pretty soon, without much effort, I have a plan in place.

Without plans to work that move me toward a goal, I flounder and end up discouraged.

After a rather poor off-season of training, coming on the heels of burnout at the end of last season, I have set some goals for this cycling season. Now that the big spring events are out of the way, I have set myself to focus on the second half of the summer races, the ones I didn't do last year due to burnout.

I am looking at doing the Cat 4 NC State Games Crit on June 27. That will be my first race of the year, a gauge to measure fitness and mental conditioning.

My real target for the season is the Crossroads Classics August 3-7. It is a series I wanted to do last year but was too burnt out to consider. Crossroads is 5 days of consecutive racing in and around the Charlotte area. Each little town around the city seems to host a Criterium. It is a points based series with each race having a winner but the series having an overall winner as well.

I am excited to have some targets out there and have felt direction for the first time in a year. My goal for these races? I would like to say my goal is simply to have fun but I know myself. My metric is to earn Cat 3 status out of this series. Easy for me to set a goal like this and work toward it. Perhaps the better, and more difficult goal to keep top of mind is to figure out how to have fun!

In either case. It starts end of June and winds up to the first week of August. My goal is to post training reports here once a week. Unlike last year, this is not out of a bloated sense of self-importance. This blog helps with accountability. It is a tool that helps target and motivate training.

rear view

i am hypnotized by the steam from my coffee. it is wafting toward my nostrils, bringing the acrid aroma of a dark roasted bean, its comfort lulling me into a semi-conscious stupor. outside the skies are the dark grey that tell of the threat of snow. my hat and fleece keep me warm enough to fall asleep sitting up in front of this big window, content to listen to the ambient worship music playing somewhere in this place, my favorite coffee shop.

it has been a long time since last i wrote on this blog. i read the previous entries and am confronted with how self-centered i have been in the writing of this blog. last year was an interesting year for me. i had something to prove to everyone, especially myself. I wanted people to see i was worth something in this sport called cycling. this need became an obsession, a monster that woke within and quickly became a beast that defied control. i rode the back of this beast until last june. when finally i gave pause to look back over the previous 8 months, i saw a man i didn't like; one who reflected a frightening resemblance to the boy i knew 15 years ago, so self-absorbed, insecure, and driven to a destination that promised significance but, even on its best day, delivered a fleeting glimpse of meaning as it disappeared around the next bend in the road.

i threw in the towel in july. i gained 12 pounds in a couple of months and didn't touch my bike for at least 6 weeks. it was a battle to stay in the gym and keep fit. i wrestled deeply, without complete resolution, with the idea of racing on a team this year. it was finally the love of the sport and the need to push myself that shook me out of the hypnosis that feels similar to what i am feeling this morning, staring out the window, smelling the wafts of my coffee. I took time off, but am back on the bike. I indulged in self-loathing, but am learning to accept the broken pieces of myself along with the whole pieces. I am older, have more grey hair, more wrinkles, less total hair than i had last year. each step in this direction has been a teacher.

i am racing this year, though with less frequency and less urgency. i have started training again. i have taken time to whittle this desire, freeing it from much of the imperfections of last year. looking in the rear view is important. sometimes your best companions can be a hot cup of coffee, a good view, a hammock, and a random dog that has pledged to be company for the day.