Streaking cyclists

Ask any athletic coach and they'll tell you something like "exercise breaks you down, rest builds you up." This is true: The workouts we perform deplete our energy and break down our tissues, and then our bodies repair and improve when we rest, to deal with the stresses we subject them to. So most coaches recommend that their athletes take days off from their training each week to allow for that recovery and the subsequent physiological adaptations to happen. I've long believed in taking one or two days off every week from cycling so I can recover and adapt. But recently I have begun to doubt rigid adherence to weekly rest days for cyclists.

One of the first things that made me question the requirement for rest days was a common pre-raceday workout called "leg openers." These are typically pretty short, between 20-60 minutes, with a few short intervals thrown in, often three 1-minute efforts. I've known many cyclists who do these types of workouts on the day before a race. They seem to keep your legs fresher for the race than if you took the previous day completely off. I've been doing these before race-days for years, on and off.

I've also begun doing leg-openers on Fridays (which used to be one of my two weekly rest days) before our big Saturday team workout rides. I generally ride a stationary bike in the gym at work for 20 minutes, with 3x1-minute intervals. Lately I've also been doing leg-openers on my other rest day; Sundays. I ride my bike around town for a similar workout. So now I ride almost every day. My power hasn't been harmed and I feel better than when I don't do leg-openers. And managing my weight has become easier!

My team-mate Jim Langley noticed the same thing years ago; he felt worse after his days off. So he vowed to ride every day for as long as he could manage. This turned into a "streak:" An uninterrupted string of consecutive days with a ride included. He has been riding every single day since 1993 (only lost 6 days since 1990; due to a broken hip!)! Uh, he's faster than me too even though I'm 7 years his junior.

Another reason I think cyclists can ride on consecutive days is that it's a low-impact sport. The repairs and adaptations our bodies go through seem to work fine even without days off. I'd hesitate to apply "streaks" to sports like weight-lifting, for instance!

I now appreciate the feasibility, and the benefits, of riding on consecutive days for long periods of time without ill effects.

Note: That statement applies to experienced cyclists, because beginners really should take days off to avoid repetitive-stress injuries (RSIs; I'd even recommend riding no more than every other day). Older cyclists probably should be extra-vigilant too since healing typically becomes slower as we age.

Still, I feel no need to start my own "streak," mostly because I don't want to be a slave to it. I plan on doing my leg-openers on Fridays whenever possible, but I will probably take Sundays off much of the time... I do try to have a life outside of cycling too!

I feel autumn coming...

...and that always makes me a bit sad. I am a summer kind of guy and have no use for cold, dark and rain. Yeah, I can deal with it, but I'd rather not. That said, I always try to make the most of my time on this earth, so I will be plenty busy this fall.

Low-Key Hillclimb Series

Team Bicycle Trip has been using this series for training the last few years. It's a fun way to get in our winter workouts (we train year-round). I remember last year's Jamison Creek hillclimb when we all rode from Santa Cruz to this race above Boulder Creek, raced, then did the same climb two more times. The other riders were in awe! I'll also throw in a few fast group rides, just to keep my pack-skills sharp.

Surfing

I haven't been surfing much lately, so maybe this fall I will make more time to paddle out. I still do a 15-minute upper-body workout two or three times a week, so my fitness should be good enough even for surfing in bigger swells. Not that I will; I like 4-foot waves the best. My last session of surfing 8-foot waves was exhilarating, but also a bit scary. I go out there to relax and have fun, not for an adrenaline rush.

Chores

Yeah, I need to do a few things around the house that I have been putting off forever. Got to be a good husband!

Bike-commuting

Like usual I will install my lights and ride to and from work in the dark through the winter. My old NiteRider light is pretty beat up though, so it's time to buy something new. I haven't decided yet, but the Ay Up would be a nice headlight (except for the price) paired with a Blackburn Flea taillight. Still debating though; I may get something else. I also need to buy a new PowerTap CPU since my old one's display is illegible, new bike shoes, etc. Oh, and I still haven't replaced my old mountain-bike (that Giant Anthem X3 looks so sweet). It's a shame my money ain't unlimited.

Vacations and holidays

That's the only reason to have winter as far as I'm concerned! I love holidays, especially Thanksgiving. We'll be going to Disneyland in October, then possibly Hawaii in January or February. Maybe New York too. We'll see. I usually rent a bike or find a gym so I can keep my training on track while traveling.

Adios for now!

My 2009 season, part deux

I had a "fair-to-meddling" early season, and thought I'd post an update on my racing since then. I am still training through my races, so my expectations aren't high. But it was nice to get some better results this summer. Here are my official USA Cycling results. But they are incomplete since some race organizers don't submit the final results to them. This is the complete list (with links to my race reports and the results):

1. Cat's Hill Classic criterium (30th place)
2. Berkeley Hills Road Race, (DNF)
3. Wheels of Thunder Dash for Cash criterium (14th place)
4. Pescadero Coastal Classic Road Race (DNP)
5. Benicia Town Race criterium (13th place)
6. Watsonville Criterium (5th place)
7. Nor/Cal Nevada District Road Race Championships (20th place)
8. Dunnigan Hills Road Race (2nd place)
9. San Ardo Road Race (3rd place)
10. Giro di San Francisco (7th place)
    

I was very happy after winning the "field sprint" at Dunnigan; man, that was awesome! But I still keep thinking "what if I had followed Jan when he soloed off the front?" Would his teammates have shut the break down? Or let the two of us go? If the latter I could have sprinted for the win against Jan. If, if, if, etc. :-)

Now I will mostly just enter some hill-climbs for training. Then on to the 2010 season. I plan on trying to "peak and taper" for a few races next year. I miss having better results!

Ciao,

The merits of not eating!

I am a big believer in eating a big breakfast before a big bike-ride, and then refueling with sport drink during the ride, and eating a recovery meal afterward. Here's a typical quote of Monique Ryan supporting that view:

"As all cyclists know, muscle glycogen is an important fuel source during most any ride, whether easy or more intense and depending on your training intensity, muscle glycogen can become significantly depleted in 75 to 90 minutes."

She recommends as much as "3 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight (1.4 g per pound), or 225 g for a 165 lb. cyclist." I've tried to eat that much; it's not fun! I now believe that it isn't always necessary to eat that much, depending on various things. Sometimes eating less can help us become faster cyclists, believe it or not.

What changed my mind on this issue was a few things:

• I remember my early days of big rides when I'd ride for 3 to 5 hours with no food. Or maybe just one energy bar at most. I didn't know any better but never bonked that I recall.
• I read several articles in which sport nutritionists and athletes discussed eating less as a way of enhancing fat-burning capability. That in turn spares the more-powerful muscle energy source, glycogen, which thus allows them to be faster in long races.

The basic concept is that constantly eating food during rides makes your metabolism 'lazy' and more inclined to just grab the glycogen, saving the fat for later. This prevents you from burning body fat, and makes you more vulnerable to bonking on long rides if you forget to eat enough. Denying your body a constant source of glycogen forces it to adapt to burning more body fat instead. Makes sense, but is it true?

I recently did a test of this theory: With 891 calories for breakfast I did a workout ride with teammates for 5 hours including 75 minutes of race-speed climbing up Bonny Doon Road on just plain old water. I kept my power in the correct training zone ("L4") and burned 2,464 calories. Not bad! That means the other 1,573 calories came from my energy reserves. Some undoubtedly came from my dinner the night before, but if "when you wake up in the morning, your liver glycogen stores are only about one-fourth to one-third full, at about 80 grams worth of carbohydrate" is true, then obviously a very large portion must have come from my fat stores.

So, am I lean too? Yeah, I think 6% body-fat qualifies. But I'm more concerned that I can save my glycogen for finish-line sprints, and that also seems to be working better now.

Here are some articles for reference:

• Cyclists consider fasting to lose weight, VeloNews
• How to burn fat better, Cycling News
• Winter Bike Training, UltraCycling Magazine
• The Jonathan Vaughters Interview, Part II, Belgium Knee Warmers
• Low Carbohydrate Training, TriFuel
• Maximize your ability to burn fat as fuel, Hunter Allen, TrainingPeaks blog
  

So, this training method may make sense some of the time, but I would definitely not use it all the time. I don't know how often this can be done, but for now I'm saving this for some of my Saturday "L4" workout rides (with an energy bar in my pocket just in case!). In the off-season I may try it more often, but I will still eat during long road races and my "L5" workouts.

Ciao, not "chow," for now!

My 2009 racing season so far

Like usual, my season is a mixed bag: A bit underwhelming at first glance, but still with some glimmers of promise.

Executive summary

I would have to say that I started off the season more relaxed than I should have. I really slacked off at Merco when I could easily have been further forward for the finish. That one really sticks in my craw! Menlo Park was similar, except that I really did try to move up but the huge pack bunched up and pushed me back... my fault, but more of a misjudgement than slacking off. I feel I rode well at Brisbane and Santa Cruz, but was just outraced.

The nitty-gritty

Here's my list of races in 2009, to date (with links to my race reports and the results):

1. Early Bird Road Race (not listed in results for some reason; I should have been 19th though)
2. Merco Credit Union Foothills Road Race (21st place)
3. Tri-Flow Menlo Park Grand Prix, criterium (28th place)
4. Ronde Van Brisbeen, criterium (8th place)
5. Ronde Van Brisbeen, circuit race (11th place)
6. Santa Cruz Classic Criterium (30th place)

I have been very happy with my fitness, thanks to Team Bicycle Trip Coach Mark's programs, but my form has been lacking as I pretty much always "train through" my races without "peaking" for them. I still haven't decided on any races to peak for, and have intentionally kept that to a minimum in the interest of concentrating on achieving my maximum fitness potential instead (every time we peak we actually lose some fitness). That was something I started in fall 2007, and so far I have managed to stick with my regular year-round regimen of non-stop intervals, skeptics notwithstanding!

All of that yields me a measly 3 points toward upgrading from Category 3 to Cat. 2. Not that Cat. 2 is my goal, really, but it's something to use as a measure of progress. I had about 26 points last year, plus a 1st place, but the points are starting to expire as they only count points earned in the last 12 months toward upgrades.

The future

This Saturday I am racing Cat's Hill Classic in Los Gatos, one of my favorites even though the course doesn't favor me at all. Plus I'm racing in the Cat. 3 race with all of the crazed young guns, so that won't be easy. At least it's a super-cool venue! After that it's on to Berkeley Hills Road Race and Pescadero Road Race (I'll be the team's water-bottle carrier at those!), and whatever else I can fit in. It would be nice to get on the podium at least once this year though...

Arrivederci!

Training with power: Love/hate

Last December I bought a used Saris "CycleOps "PowerTap" power meter kit that I saw on Craigslist.org. Basically it's a bicycle-wheel hub that has an internal Watts meter. That is, it measures how much power I'm sending to the rear wheel, in Watts. Neat device that is helpful in training, and also allows you to save each ride's data to your PC for detailed analysis and record-keeping.

Car engines are measured in horsepower, but we mere humans put out only between 0.1 to 1.6 horespower, so we measure it in the more impressive-sounding Watts equivalent: 75W to 1200W. (That is my typical power output range, by the way, from easy cruising to full sprint.) The PowerTap includes a cyclometer (bicycle computer; the kit's CPU) with an LCD display that mounts on the handlebars, so you can constantly check your power output, plus the usual speed, time, etc., and also heart-rate. This picture shows a newer wireless unit; mine is the older wired type.

Actually, I have two older PowerTaps now: The first PowerTap I bought (black CPU with serial dock) had a semi-faulty CPU that dropped the data from the hub about 30-40% of the time, and also never worked with the older serial dock connecting it to my PC (it didn't work with a newer USB dock either). I ended up buying a second used full PowerTap kit (newer yellow CPU with USB dock). I tried to save money, oh well, but the good news is that I now have two PowerTap wheels and wiring harnesses so I can keep one on my 10-speed training bike and the other on my 9-speed commuter bike. Still, I may sell the extra wheel, HR chest-strap and wiring harness (the semi-faulty CPU and the serial dock are included free!), so if you want a slightly used PowerTap hub on a Bontrager Aero wheel, drop me a line using the "comments" link below.

Without a power meter you have to rely on carefully-staged, timed rides to measure your training progress. You might, say, use Old La Honda Road in Woodside to measure your speed during 20-minute intervals (well, for me, as that's about how long it takes me to climb that hill). Ride that several times a year, using the same bike and other equipment, and keep records, and then see if you are getting faster or slower. Trouble is, things like wind, temperature, road conditions, barometric pressure, tires, chain lubrication etc. all add up to create substantial variables that can overwhelm your actual training results. I know this from personal experience! The PowerTap, on the other hand, reads accurately no matter what. Power is power. And you don't have to test on one specific section of road to measure your progress. Just ride as hard as you can for whatever interval you want to compare, on whatever road suits you at the time. 20 minutes at full power is always the same regardless of the conditions... well, sort of: Your body still reacts to your diet, your form, etc., so power still varies accordingly. But at least you eliminate the outside variables so you can compare how your body is progressing.

So, how has this PowerTap changed my life? Well, in several ways:

It has helped me refine my pacing during intervals:
That is, I can use the PowerTap CPU's display to read my current power, and I just ride at the correct power I am capable of for a given interval length. I now know what my power output should be for various interval lengths between 5 seconds to 20 minutes and even longer. This is a huge help in training because I have discovered that I was riding too hard in my longer intervals, but not hard enough in my shorter intervals. Also, I have discovered that I was riding too fast at the beginnings of my intervals, then fading toward the ends. Using my heart-rate monitor for pacing was partly to blame, because HR is slow to respond to workout intensities, but it's also human nature to go too fast instead of pacing ourselves smoothly.

It has helped me further define my relative strengths and weaknesses:
This is the "love/hate" part: You can't hide the results when you use a power meter! It's cool to see your strengths, and to see confirmation that your training is making you faster. But it sucks to see high-tech confirmation of your shortcomings. Some of the experts have come up with a "power profile" chart you can use to gauge your power compared to other cyclists that ranks you within a range from "world-class" to "untrained novice." According to this chart I'm still very much a sprinter! A pretty good sprinter actually. Not world-class, but not bad at all. And I'm not much of a climber, though I'm still fast enough to keep up with the fast guys some of the time. It's kind of reassuring to know this stuff. I haven't finished my complete power profile, but will try to do that soon. I'm really curious what my maximum 1-minute power is, but figuring that out is a demanding test that's hard to fit into my routine.

In the future:
The PowerTap, combined with better software, will allow me to better assess if I'm training too much or too little (you'd think our bodies would tell us, but they often lie!). I just need to spend more money to buy the more sophisticated "TrainingPeaks WKO+" software. I'm still using Saris's "PowerAgent" software which is pretty good, but lacks some of the cooler features of WKO+. Specifically, the "Normalized Power," "Intensity Factor," and "Training Stress Score" that WKO+ tracks really indicate the long-term training load we are under, and can predict very accurately whether we need to back off or go harder during the season.

And soon, once I have enough ride records with power data, I will know better whether the rigorous year-round training Coach Mark got me started on is helping or not. But for now I just have to hope that is is!

Finally got to ride my new bike!

Today Team Bicycle Trip had it's usual big Saturday workout ride, up Swanton Road four times it turned out. I have always loved that ride, and today I also had the extra treat of riding it on my new 2009 Giant TCR Advanced 2. And it didn't rain! What could be better? How about good legs? Well, my legs felt great too!

The new bike is more comfortable on the bumps. Noticeably so. Giant claims that, and I can confirm it. Swanton has some fairly rough stretches but this bike does a better job of isolating the rider from them. The improvement is merely incremental, but still very welcome.

Giant also claims the frame is stiffer laterally. That may be so. But I haven't yet done any really hard jumps to really test it. Most of my sprints training is on my old aluminum Specialized. I did win the city-limit sprint, but that wasn't because of the bike.

[After several months of swapping between my bikes I can now say for certain that the 2009 Giant is way better in sprints than my old one. My old 2007 sometimes gets a real wobble when I sprint really hard, while my new 2009 just rides nice and straight no matter how hard I jump on the pedals.]

But one area really stood out: Handling. The old bike was always a bit wobbly in fast turns, which I attributed to the 30 mm deep-dish Easton EA50SL aero rims I use. But the new one corners beautifully... even on the same rims and tires I used on the old bike! So, it is the new frame that gets credit for the handling. I expected this, due to the massive head tube area. But it's nice to confirm that too.

I ended up liking the Fizik Arione saddle after all, so I am keeping it. It's pretty similar in feel to my Selle San Marco Aspide, but perhaps slightly nicer. It might even become my new preference!

Another improvement is in the weight: my new bike is 18.1 pounds per my fish scale, as ridden with the Ultegra gruppo and the heavier rims. My old bike is 19.9 pounds, though that includes a Bontrager aero wheel with a Power Tap hub and the 105 gruppo. Still.

So. Am I happy I upgraded? Of course! The difference in cost was only a few hundred bucks, and it was well worth it. But I would have to say that the improved high- speed handling is the only reason I say that. The other improvements are nice, but not that compelling unless the improved sprint stiffness proves to be beyond belief. [It is!]

Now I just need to win some races on it!