Category Archives: Training

Canyon Velo 90 miles and 96 miles Solo- 186 Miles Total

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kj- 5625 — a huge day of calorie burn

TSS- 518  –It will take days to recover fully from this effort

Notice on the screenshot from Training Peaks WKO 3.o how the first 90 miles the power (yellow lines) is all over the place.  After finishing the group ride notice how my power is much more steady.  Also notice the last 15 miles how the power is much higher than the previous section.  I wanted to finish the ride strong and I DID!!  I am pleased with that effort and it is very promising sign that my fitness is progressing.  After 170 ish miles the last 15 miles were done at a higher intensity!

Garmin Player Download Here

Garmin Data Here

I had a good day on the bike today.  I started off with a 90 mile group ride — the  Canyon Velo ride.  But I didn’t feel satisfied with the amount of work I had done so I rode some more afterwards.  Riding in packs doesn’t really prepare me for my races.  The group rides are frustrating for me.  They stop to regroup, they stop too long, and the effort is very dynamic.  They ride at an easy to medium pace until they hit the hills.  When they are in hills they go balls out and it’s an anaerobic effort.   All the things that don’t translate well to in Ultra riding. Ultra racing in its purest state is a more akin to a time trial– a very long time trial.  For example the Furnace Creek 508 is raced as a 508 mile time trial!!

Ultra Cyclists shouldn’t or at least not often do the following things:

1. Stop

2. Get off their bike

3. Go anaerobic

4. Ride with their power or effort all over the map

I guess that’s why I prefer to train alone.  Just my SRM Power Meter and I going out for a 13 hour training ride. And on race day I guess that’s why Ultra Cycling appeals to me– it’s all about individual effort!  Just you and your bike against Mother Nature’s choice of weather and Planet Earth’s topography.

Ok all for now…thank you for reading my blog.  Please pass my blog along to your friends.

Century Day- Two rides today

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SUMMARY

In the morning I did the Wednesday Ride and then added the Warner Loop on the back-end.  I had a good hard ride of 80 miles.  Then after work I did the Warner Loop again just to keep the legs loose which added another 20 miles.  Total miles for the day was 100 miles Total time was just over 5 hours.

The first 5 miles of my evening ride were really a challenge.  I had been on my feet for 9 hours at work after riding the hard 80 in the morning.  I wore my Skins leg tights which helped but they were still stiff.  After the first 5 miles or so my legs loosened up and I had a very nice enjoyable ride.

THE MORNING RIDE

Garmin Download Here

I was 11 minutes late to the meet.  I chased for 1:12 and caught the group on Glenn Ranch as they were about to enter Santiago Canyon.  I felt good on that first hour, pushing harder than normal on a Wednesday ride.  Once I was riding with the group my pace was lighter for the next 20 miles or so.  There is a lot of energy savings while drafting …it can’t be overstated.

A few things positive things I notice in the data provided above:

1. 2600 kjs in a 4 hour ride that’s an average of 650 kj/hr.  Pretty high for me on a training ride and I like the data based on my perceived effort.

2.  Intensity Factor was (802) or 80% for 4 hours

3. PwHR:  3.63%– This is outstanding!  The goal should be around 5% and I am below that.  This means my HR and Power were consistent throughout the 4 hours, much more complicated than that but we will leave it there.

4.  Normalized Power was 220 watts which was 3.3 w/kg for 4 hours that’s also good for me anyway.

THE EVENING RIDE

Active Recovery

Today’s Training Tip

The power meter is essential for recovery rides.  I hear cyclists often say they don’t use their power meter because they’re not going hard.  WRONG! If you are on a recovery ride you need to ride nice and easy.  The Active Recovery is designed to promote blood flow and help in the healing process.  Going out too hard on a recovery ride will add more training stress and actually slow your recovery process.  I submit if you are not using a power meter during your recovery rides then chances are YOU ARE RIDING YOUR RECOVERY RIDES MUCH HARDER THAN YOU SHOULD.  Notice below 63% of this ride was spent at Active Recovery Zone about 36% at Endurance, most of that 36% was at the lowest levels of Endurance zone since my average power was 136 watts for the ride.

All for now…thank you for reading my blog.  Please pass it on to you cycling friends.

Steady Effort in the Aerobars

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After work I did a little over an hour at a steady effort.  It was not an Hour of Power.  The goal for the session was to stay in the aero bars as long as possible.  I think I did ok with it but I need more and more time to feel comfortable in the position.  As always, the head-cross wind was a factor.

The sunset was amazing. I really wish I could capture it for you but alas no pictures.

In other news, I am maintaining my weight below 149 lbs which is my goal.  If I raced the Furnace Creek 508 at sub 150 lbs that would be the lightest I have ever raced it.  It’s a shame I don’t have the fitness I have had in previous years.  Today’s weight is 148 lbs or 67.1 kg.

Wednesday Ride

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On today’s Wednesday Endurance ride,  I sat out front, in the wind, for the first portion of the ride.  I wanted to hold above 3.0 w/kg for the entire ride. The second portion of the ride has a lot of paceline and drafting which lowers my overall average.   I ended up with 2.9 w/kg in average power.  Normalized Power was 238 watts or 3.5 w/kg — exactly where I wanted to end up for 2 hours.

In the last three Wednesday rides I have lowered the time spent in Active Recovery mode from over 50% down to today’s 34%.

Notice the difference of these three Wednesday Rides.  Notice the Average and Normalized Power increasing.  The main reason for the increase in wattage is because I am spending less and less time in the bunch and getting out in the wind.  The goal is to start getting used to riding solo again.  There is no drafting on the Furnace Creek 508.

Back to Back Centuries in San Diego

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On Saturday I went out really early with the hopes of riding Mount Palomar.  I was going to climb South Grade (steeper side), descend East Grade and climb East Grade then go home. It should have been a 130 mile day with about 12,000 feet of climbing in the middle section.  About 16 miles into my ride, on Del Dios Hwy, I just didn’t have the legs.  I turned around and went back to the coast.  I figured since it was still early I could catch the Swami’s ride and then go long (Lake Wholford and Valley Center) with them.

It was great to see the old gang again.  I was a Swami for almost four years.  I had a bagel and cream cheese and two cups of coffee while visiting with old friends.  I felt so much better.  We rolled out about 8:10 am.  I felt fine throughout the ride and was surprised that I was well positioned for the sprint.  I of course don’t have a sprint but I was well positioned.

One of the things I dislike about the world famous Swami’s ride is the LONG regrouping at “the church”.  We were stopped 11 minutes! Ridiculous!  We had only ridden 55 minutes.  I don’t get it.

After the Swami’s ride I did a few hill repeats in San Elijo and a few laps on PCH that added up to a century.  I had a good day on the bike even though I felt sluggish in the beginning.

SUNDAY

My training goal for today was to ride a coastal century in under six hours.  I set my Garmin Virtual Partner to 16.66 mph.  The virtual partner tells you how many miles and how much time you are ahead or behind your goal pace.  I also used my Power Tap power meter to pace myself towards my goal.

I rode a 5:18 total time century. I was amazed with my time because of all the stops signs and traffic lights (Leucadia Blvd – has to be the longest light in the county urg!).  I never got off the bike.  Moving time was 5:11 or 5:13, depending which online GPS service you download your data too, Garmin Connect or RidewithGPS.com.

My route was simple.  I rode to the Oceanside Marina then south to Torrey Pines then north to Oceanside Marina then south to Torrey Pines then north to the finish at the Lumberyard in Encinitas.  Why would I do such a monotonous route?  I prefer to do big-ass loops for my centuries but today I wanted rabbits up ahead to chase down.  It was a great little game to play to keep the pace high.

Ride with GPS download

Garmin Connect download

On the way north for my second trip to Oceanside Marina, I hooked up with a triathlete named Scott Federoff.  We kept each other honest.  Our paces seemed compatible.  I believe we pushed each other just enough to make the training ride worth it.  He needed three (3) hours and I needed six (6) hours or a little less. I hope we ride together again some time soon.  It was a pleasure riding with someone who fit my definition of the perfect riding partner see this post.

Thank you to INFINIT NUTRITION for keeping me fueled. I had two “doubled-up” bottles and that’s it.  Doubled-up means I put twice the serving size in my bottle.  I had twice the calories but only half the fluids.  The temperature was cool for the first three hours of the ride so I was able to conserve my fluids (fuel).  When I was done I was a little dehydrated but my goal was to do the complete 100 miles without stopping and keeping the intensity high.  INFINIT NUTRITION did the job of keeping me fueled.  Please give them a try and customize your own formulas for your needs.  When you decide to try Infinit use “vireo” as your discount code and receive 10% off of your order.

Thank you for reading my blog– pass it on to your BEST friend.

Wednesday Ride

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GARMIN PLAYER CLICK HERE 

 

June 02 on the left June 16 on the right

 

Wednesday ride today was a little quicker than usual.  Group dynamics, it’s an interesting thing.  Group rides have established and for the most part unwritten rules.  But then depending on who shows up the set ride format can change drastically.  You can see from the comparison of the two ride summaries above that today was a bit harder.  I didn’t find the ride difficult but I know there were people getting dropped here and there. 

A few key points: 

Average power UP from 137 to 151 watts 

Normalized Power UP from 197 to 206 watts 

Intensity Factor is UP from 71.5% to 74.8% 

All for now and thank you for reading my blog.

Ride #2 Today- After Work Ride with Yeshua

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You just never know where you will find a new riding partner.  Sometimes you find them on the road going in the same direction as you are going. He overtakes you then you overtake him.  But then you find your paces are compatible and you ride the rest of the day together.  Sometimes you find them in an event as one of many other riders in the paceline.  But eventually that paceline thins out and here you are with just one other rider. It usually happens on a climb and you find that your climbing abilities are well matched with this rider subsequently you ride the rest of the event with him.   It turns out my new riding partner is a coworker.

RIDING PARTNERS

So let’s talk about what makes a good riding partner. I like riding partners that don’t talk much. I like to ride to ride. If I want to talk I’ll have coffee, breakfast or lunch with you.  When I ride I like to ride with music and again not talk much if at all– just the essentials “Left at the light…”  I like riding with riders that keep the intensity up but not hammer it so that you can’t keep the ride hard throughout the whole ride. I like riders that anticipate when I am just about to fall off the pace and come around and pull and keep the pace high- without surging and dropping me.  I like riders roll off when they are starting to fade and allow me to come around and take up the pacing duties.  I like riders that don’t stop on a 50 mile ride for anything other than traffic controls.

Today I did a workout in the morning of about 34 miles.  My legs felt ok but didn’t the  snap that I like to have on the rollers.  I wanted to ride after work for another couple of hours to shake out whatever funkiness was going on with my legs.  My performance in the morning was blah to say the least.  I was relating this to Yeshua,  a new-hire, and we made a plan to ride after work.  Sundays the shop closes at 4pm.  During the summer months we can ride for at least 3.5 hours after work.    We decided on 3 hours.  We kept a very solid pace for three hours and 55 miles with an average speed of 18mph and because of some lights our moving speed between them was almost 20pmh.  My Normalized Power was 223 watts or 3.32 w/kg, which for me is good for a 3 hour effort.

Meet Yeshua





There was a lot of minutes spent over 22 mph on this ride- weird how 20 mph and 21 mph are lower

Dana Point out and Back.

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Quick ride before work today 34 miles at about 19 mph average speed.  Easy ride going southbound. Tempo pace going northbound back to Newport Beach.

One quick analysis point– my Intensity Factor (0.93) says that I was riding at 93% of my threshold power.  My perceived effort says no not really.  If I continue to see this type of disparity between power data and perceived effort I will raise my threshold power.  This type of disparity usually means I am gaining fitness. My Normalized Power was 256 (3.78 w/kg) for 51 minutes.

The Wednesday Endurance Ride with Mike

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Endurance ride today with just a few surges here and there.  Just as we were beginning our pace-line someone flatted and we actually stopped to regroup. I thought that was really cool.

I’ve included a Training Zone Chart from Training Peaks WKO 3.0  What is interesting is even though I thought this was an endurance training ride I spent 58% of my time in the Active Recovery Power Zone of 0-153 watts.  It is a group ride so a lot of energy is conserved while drafting.  I will experiment by riding at the front next Wednesday to see the difference in power zone distribution.

Dana Point out and back with Justin

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Entire workout with a stop in Dana Point (grey area)

Southbound to Dana Point with Justin Northbound leg was solo

I had a good hard and fast ride with Justin to Dana Point.  On the return leg I was alone and worked the rollers and maintained a good hard tempo.  I tried to stay above 500 watts on the rollers as I stood up and powered over them.  It worked sometimes and sometimes not so much.

You can see from the data above the time was less for my return leg but the Normalized Power was only 3 watts different.  But notice how the HR:PW % is only 5ish on the return leg.  That means I kept my power and heart rate in a close range to each other for the whole leg back to Newport Beach.  Normalized Power of 244 (3.6 w/kg) for one hour is good for me.  I’m happy with today’s training.