Been riding the cross bike on the snow covered roads. Much more fun with the new powertap on her. Put in 3 hours Jens factor 4, on Saturday. It was snowing pretty good all ride. Even found a super fun deep snow seasonal road to play on.

Did a whole bunch of mtb snow riding Sunday & then again Monday night. Was good to get out on the trails and ride with the GBC crew. Plus lizzy loves it.

Last night I buried myself on the snow covered roads on the cx bike once again. At one point thought I might get buried. Was riding uphill into the blowing snow, road covered about 4 inches deep & wind howling. It was only about 1k long, but felt like an eternity climbing the thing. Much better than the trainer any day!

Weather is looking to be the same as usual. Looks like more time on the cx bike.

Hit up some snow covered roads on the cross bike last night. Way more fun the rollers. Super serene & peacefull out there.

So I took a few weeks off the bike, drank some beers, hung out with the family. Played alot of video games. Lot’s of Modern Warfare 2 and I still suck online. The only thing I could kill was the people in the airport as they were unarmed…

I’ve finally swung myself back into training mode. Been getting myself motivated enough to get into the gym for every workout. Though I swapped with Bridget and started going in the mornings. Let me tell you, getting up at 5 am really sucks. I’d much rather lift at midnight than that early. There really isn’t any amount of coffee that will awaken me enough. Though, I gotta do what I gotta do otherwise she’ll wear the dreaded sweatpants. If you’re a guy, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re a girl, why?

Seriously, can feel the raw power in the legs coming. Just wait till next week when I’ll try to get my scrawny ass to lift more than just the bar. My legs are gonna be HUGE!

I even actually dragged my ass out of bed at 4:30 am this morning in the midst of major snowstorm, and drove to the trails to ride. Mark & Suzanne couldn’t make it out due to the weather, and they had Burt’s bike. I made a unfruitful attempt to ride in the deep snow and decided to turn arond and go back to bed. Ah well, chamois time is training time right?

Maybe I’ll get some miles in this weekend on the roadie, I even bought me a new sweet blue race lite front wheel for her and everything. I don’t have to steal the one of my cross bike anymore!

Maybe next post I won’t wait an entire month!

I’m hosed right now, that about sums up todays workout. Weather right now is unbelievable for February. Far to good to pass up a climb up into the hills. At first I was a little weary that I would still be a bit tired from the weekend, so I did a few good short early efforts and the legs felt ok.

With that as a sign, decided to go up to Lefthand Canyon. I was going to do a few 3×20 Sweet Spot efforts, but decided to just roll then all up into one big ol’ ball of ‘freestyle’ fun all the way up the climb.

Started out fairly strong and felt pretty good, but I could tell as time wore on and fatigue started to build that I was suffering a plenty. Still managed to keep it in my “sweet spot” for the numbers game, but damn if I’m not paying for it right now. I feel like I could sleep for days.

Hopefully something still in the legs for tomorrows efforts…cause it’s going to be another beautiful day here in Boulder, CO!!

I’m the worst at doing long intervals, not bad when you can do them on a climb, but always loathe them on the flat roads. Seeing as it was a little chilly, I decided to not become a popsicle by doing hill repeats and freezing my arse off on the way down and just went out and hit the flat/rolling terrain.

All in all the 4×9 tempo efforts with bursts at 3,6,9 minutes turned out great. A few minor glitches involving traffic and corners, but they pretty much look about as good as I can do them outdoors. The legs felt quite a bit better than yesterdays efforts. I felt really flat yesterday, but good and strong today. I usually have good workouts when I have a few days in my legs. Plus I did a bunch of stretching last night, my hips and hamstrings have been really tight and I think that really helped me out.

Weather is looking awful tomorrow thru the weekend If the snow stays away, may spend some time on the dirt, but otherwise may be a fairly rough weekend to get in some big miles. Next week looking like it’s going to be back in the mid 50′s and 60′s so I’m happy with that!

Bridget had her surgery and is recovering well, though she’ll probably have to stay behind tomorrow when I take Lake sledding. Tired and sore, hopefully she’ll swing through it here in a few days

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll get to see my nephew Peyton a little bit as he’ll be in town. He must get a little weirded out when he sees us in person. With the family spread out, we do a bunch of video chatting, so I think he thinks he’s family lives in a computer. He’s only 6 months old, and my brother lives waay up north in Malone, NY.

I’m taking this week as a rest week…

Glad I didn’t live in East Germany back in the day: From VeloNews

The East German system they grew up in has hardened them in a way that is foreign to the majority of the peloton. Grabsch confirmed a story that the former East German coaches demanded they ride hometrainers, in front of a brick wall without music or entertainment, for four or more hours, to toughen them mentally.

We hit the trails and climbed up Wild Turkey and down Picture Rock. We didn’t get first tracks (but did on the Wild Turkey>Picture Rock descent). Surprisingly there was quite a few riders out and even a few hikers.

At the bottom of Picture Rock, I just felt like total crap, completely drained and fatigued. I chatted with Kat and he continued on whilst, I climbed back up and decided to head home. I was barely turning the pedals over and felt like I was gonna yak or fall asleep at any minute. I still managed to pull out 3 hours of ride time, but wouldn’t call it quality ride time. I headed home and napped for 4 hours. I didn’t get sick and I think the nap helped prevent it. This week is a rest week and is well deserved.

This guy above, thought I should’ve stayed it out and done the whole loop

Heading Home

I’m making my way back home for a week on this Thursday, Bridget is having surgery on her shoulder, adn I’m gonna help take care of her and Lake for a few days. Most likely won’t get any riding in, but will be a good chance for rest. Visit her and the dam fam and catch up on some other stuff.

I registered up for the Lumberjack 100 last night, was I think rider 296 and they cap at 300. Not sure if I’ll go to that or the 24hr in Canada, but wanted a spot at least just in case…

Might try to get a good ride in tomorrow before I leave so the legs don’t sit idle for too long.

Since the breakfast ran late and I missed the Gateway ride, I decided (dumbly) that I would climb Left Hand Canyon up to Ward today and then take the Peak to Peak to St. Vrain and back down. Well, I felt fine and dandy heading out on the ride, and started to get into a groove climbing, but it slowly fell apart. The bolts came loose and the tires fell off the bus. I struggled, much more-so than I should. Only thing I can think is the poor sleep. The dog had some tummy issues and was up about every hour asking to go out. I always have the shittiest legs when I don’t sleep well and it shows in the power file below

I almost made it to Ward. I made it to the water spring filled my bottles and turned around. The wind was blowing so freakin hard I couldn’t go forward, let alone uphill. The descent was as brutal as the climb. I had to stop a few times to warm my hands up cause they were numb and I couldn’t even use the brakes. Yes, I resorted to doing jumping jacks on the side of the road to keep warm.

Once I got back out onto 36, I slowly started to warm up and with that came the firehands fun. I ended up passing FasCat Frank, and we joined up and headed over to Olde Stage Road to check out the fire damage. Oddly enough, I slammed my bottles and got some food in me, now that I was warm and could function and started to feel good. (Why I didn’t feel good climbing after eating a HUGE breakfast, I’ll never know).

I snapped a few pics of the damage

Every home owner on Olde Stage owes a humongous debt to the firefighters. I can’t believe they saved those houses. The yards were burned right up to the sides of the houses and yet no damages…….Great Job and Huge thanks to the Firefighters.

Now, if my hands warm up and I get a good sleep, I’ll get in a good ride tomorrow

I did manage to fall once on the icy roads though and crack my elbow pretty good. Hurt like a mother. It was solid ice under that snow!

PS Turn your volume off before you watch

Simple test upload and video with the new vholdr camera, nothing special, but captures how hard it is to ride on the roads.

Hitting the Roads tomorrow

Tomorrow, I head back to Boulder. Looking forward to the warm temps ahead.

Not going to miss this weather!

Leg’s were ok for the most part, but I could tell the work was taking its toll at the end.

Rare December Sunshine

Santa’s Goodies!!

Santa hooked me up with some awesome Gore Tex Goodies

The Gore Tex stuff is awesome and incredible. Has wind block protection and is super warm. The booties by far are the best pair I’ve ever tried, windproof and fully waterproof. The jacket is super-sick; pit-zips, chest vent, huge back pockets that make it easy to get into, and loads of other stuff. Gloves are perfect, thin and tactile, but fully wind and waterproof!

Santa also hooked me up with a vholdr camera! So look for some sick vids in the future. (currently awaiting my helmet strap)