Pics from yesterday, Vid from today

I thought this pic was pretty cool. It shows that the wind was blowing so hard it was knocking the trees down all around me! Just kidding...only an illusion:)

Although I was able to ride a bunch of the trail, I did so some of this yesterday. It was actually really disorienting. I know this trails system like the back of my hand, and at times I had absolutely no idea where I was.

Yet some more "open" singletrack. It was awesome that the snow on the trail melted, giving it a "runway" effect. Kinda neat when I was riding it.

Just had to take a pic of the new rig on it's maiden voyage. Built it up this winter. It's the first time I've ever ridden carbon anything off road and I wasn't disappointed. This thing freakin' rocks! Lighter than my aluminum Trek 8000, and takes off like a rocket. I could go lighter if I was to swap my full xt gruppo from my Trek, but for the time being I'm happy with this bike the way it is. Sette Elite Carbon Frame, sturdy Mavic UST wheelset with WTB Hubs and WTB tubeless tires, RockShox Reba Team fork, Deore LX rapid rise rear derailliur, Deore LX front derailliur, XT Hollowtech crankset and bottom bracket, Cane Creek headset, Bontrager Alum. straight bars, Bontrager Carbon seat post, and AWESOME Fizik Tundra saddle-love it! After the ride I went over to the shop and my buddy Nelson, Uber-bike fitter and former Columbian pro track and road rider, hooked me up with a super fit. I didn't even ask him, but before I knew it he had me set up on a trainer and was taking measurements and changing things around to make me faster and more comfortable. In the end he spent over an hour dialing in my ride and didn't even charge me a dime! He basically made my position a little less aggressive, gave me a longer stem, and raised my saddle. It'll be a little awkward to get used to, but with my stale handling skills from a winter spent on the roads, it's not like it really matters-ANYTHING would feel new at this point!

This vid was from today's road ride. Nothing special, but it is one of the longer "descents" on Long Island. A whole 2 minutes and change! Actually, it's probably a little faster than that since I had to take it a little slow on account of the sandy roads.

This ends another solid week of training...the second in a row! It's funny how the consistency of good sessions makes a difference in your fitness and overall motivation. I've been able to dust off a lot of the cobwebs and put some solid miles and hours in. The only issue is a little niggle in my knee. Not sure exactly when it started, but after todays ride it's stiff as a board. Feels muscular, right at the point where the quad meets the knee. Fascia maybe? The bad part is I know exactly what the source is. I changed my pedals on my road bike mid week and didn't have my cleats adjusted properly. I've done it plenty of times before, but I guess my luck ran out. Serves me right for not being diligent with something rather important... Lesson learned!

Tomorrow is a rest day and I'm really looking forward to it. Not because I want to be lazy, but heavy rain is in the forcast and that should wipe away the rest of the snow. I'm hoping to be able to put in some serious time on the mtb in the near future! Provided, of course, that my knee is in good shape.

This is what NOT to do when you're wearing a helmet mounted camera. Wait for it...wait for it...

This was a pretty decent little run. A lot of the trail today was like this. Soft, but not too muddy. It's a little slow (and my handling skills are poop right now), but at least it's time in the dirt!

Today was a lot of fun. Most of the riding in the trails was good, though I had to hike a few times through snow that was too deep to ride though. It was cool to be out on my new ride with decently warm temps and off the road. In the end I got about 2 hours in the dirt, and an hour back on the road. Great day all in all!

Riding nowhere FAST!

Sorry for the "crotch shot" but I thought this was a cool shot. Kind of redemption from all the vids I shot yesterday with the crap camera mount. Anyway, it's a short vid, but it started with a short but steep little hill and then I'm going down the other side in the end...

Today was a great indoor workout. As much as I hate riding a bike to nowhere, I enjoy the specificity and control that you get from the trainer. It's so easy to control watts, and the factor of not having to stop for dumb drivers, lights, intersections, etc., makes things so much more focused. Anyway, worked at FTP for a couple intervals as per instructions from coach. This is where I'd really like to improve (well, in reality I'd like to improve EVERY aspect of my cycling-I'm just kinda competitive like that), so the workout, while painful, was very purposeful.

Looking to get out on the mtb tomorrow if it's possible. We got A LOT of rain all day today which washed away most of the snow, but has had a tendency to pool on spots of the frozen ground. I imagine the trails will be a muddy mess by midday/afternoon tomorrow, so I'll try to get out early...like FURLY (that's "f*cking early" to the uninitiated) and ride on some of the frozen trails that tonights low temps (in the 20's F) are likely to produce. A 4am wake up looks likely. Not sure how much I'll get done, so tomorrow's training may have to be split between whatever I can manage on the trails and the remainder on the road. Obviously I'm hoping to get more time on the dirt than on the tarmac...

Mt. Handlebar

Headed out again with the Epic HD Action cam, but this time with the specific bar mount I got via my super-cool UPS man yesterday-he brings treats for my dog:). Anyway, yesterday I'd mounted the cam with some zip ties and the mount that's meant to hold the camera to your helmet. That worked really well, but I was psyched to have the actual "handlebar mount", thinking that it would work better. In the end, I'm super disappointed with the mount. As you can see on the vid, it bounces around like Dolly Parton jumping rope, and produces a hole bunch of noise as well. I'm going to send it back and see if I can get a refund. As for mounting the cam on the bars, I'll just use the zip ties and helmet mount. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Epic HD Cam

I'm so cool I can take a pic of myself as I ride...superb handling skills:)

I'm also so cool that I can take a picture of myself and Dan while standing in a parking lot.

The fellas got a little bit away from me while I was goofin' with the camera, so I had to bring them back...

Bike Test-Continued...

Image of the graph from the test today....

Cool stuff and I'm happy with where I'm at right now. The 3 minute portion of the test (the first spike) is strong, but I need to get my aerobic watts (the 20 minute portion) up. Either way, I'm over 100 watts higher on the 3 minute test than I was this past summer, and over 30 watts higher on the 20 minute portion than I was at this past summer. Good stuff! Coach says we need to up my volume in order to get the 20 minute result up (and therefore make me faster-that's the goal right?). Anyway, not to make excuses, but the shit weather this winter hasn't lent itself to all that many 5 hour rides. With the weather changing soon, we'll have to correct that. Looking forward to see where the plan takes me next...

**not sure why the numbers didn't post on the graph, but 3 min average was 443, and 20 min average was 330. Hmm...

Bike Test

Wow. That. Hurt. Just about all I can mutter about that right now. Really worked hard. I'd been dreading this bike test since last night, but I just put my head down and went for broke. Besides, it's less than an hour of suffering, how bad is that really?

The numbers, I think, were good, though I haven't had a chance to even look at them myself, much less send them along to coach. I'm happy knowing that I gave it my all, but when I get a chance to crunch the numbers later I'll know for sure. I'm positive I've made some strides in the end.

No vids as of yet for the Epic Cam. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm still waiting on delivery of a handlebar clamp. I could 'rig' it to the bars using some zipties and another of the mounts it came with, but I might just wait 'till the proper mount arrives.

I'd like to get out for an easy spin this afternoon, but the temps are really low and I'm not sure I want to get out in the cold if I don't have to. I woke up with a sore throat, and after the effort in the bike test, it's not worth pushing my luck on adding another "unscheduled" session. Maybe just some yoga and core work inside might be more appropriate.