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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Colorado National Monument...A Must See Attraction
So in another effort to escape the snow in Boulder, this past weekend my roommate Kiel and I took a trip over to Grand Junction, CO to see the sights at the Colorado National Monument. We thought that this would be the perfect time to escape, since there was no racing, and it would just be a good chance to relax, recharge and reset in the wilderness. So we choose to do some winter camping and to experience some of the scenery from the cycling movie "American Flyers" on the seats of our own bikes. If any of you readers have never seen this great cycling classic, you should pick it up the next time you want a little glimpse into the cycling lifestyle along with some great Colorado scenery. I would rate it about a 6 for the Hollywood's portrayal of cycling, mostly based on the 80's corniness.
You might recognize these pics from the movie, it was an awesome ascent, nice and curvy, a tunnel and sheer cliffs all around.
From the top, if you look closely you can see the road twisting around down below.
We got to the top just at sunset, the view was perfect.
Kiel breakin into the water supply in camp. We were one of two sites occupied that night out of 20 available, which worked out perfect since lots of fellow campers ruins the point of going to the wilderness. I would not suggest camping here in the summer as there are 70 sites total.
The "Fire-Pig" loving life on the road. It even ate up the mud at the monument, as about half of the road is currently under reconstruction.
Well we decided after our night in the woods that a stop at Glenwood Hot Springs would be much better then riding again in the cold. It was a great decision and was throughly enjoyed!
For all the photos of the trip visit: Colorado National Monument Album
P.S. It did not snow over the weekend in Boulder but there is a nice two day storm coming tomorrow. I can't wait...
You might recognize these pics from the movie, it was an awesome ascent, nice and curvy, a tunnel and sheer cliffs all around.
From the top, if you look closely you can see the road twisting around down below.
We got to the top just at sunset, the view was perfect.
Kiel breakin into the water supply in camp. We were one of two sites occupied that night out of 20 available, which worked out perfect since lots of fellow campers ruins the point of going to the wilderness. I would not suggest camping here in the summer as there are 70 sites total.
The "Fire-Pig" loving life on the road. It even ate up the mud at the monument, as about half of the road is currently under reconstruction.
Well we decided after our night in the woods that a stop at Glenwood Hot Springs would be much better then riding again in the cold. It was a great decision and was throughly enjoyed!
For all the photos of the trip visit: Colorado National Monument Album
P.S. It did not snow over the weekend in Boulder but there is a nice two day storm coming tomorrow. I can't wait...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Valley of the Sun Recap
Sorry that it has been awhile. After driving back from Phoenix last week, I have been busy trying to recuperate and the brain has been pretty much shut off.
As for the recap of the Valley of the Sun Race, I would say I am pretty happy overall with my performance being that the race was the culmination of the biggest five week base block I have ever done (base meaning high volume, low intensity training which is the beginning of every cyclist's season each year); being that I have never put in a real full base block. Last year I was out from January until May with a knee injury and then I jumped straight onto the track never really putting in the slow long rides. So I am feeling pretty good already after putting in this work this season.
The VoS race started off with a 22k (13mile) time trial which I ended up 35th, about 1:35 off the leader in the Cat. 2 field. I have never been a good time-trialist but my roommate Kiel lent me his TT bike and I was able to get a decent position on it in the week prior to the race. I felt strong and focused in the first TT of the season which at this stage is about all you can ask for. The speed will come in the next two months but it is good to maintain strength year around.
The next day the Cat 2 stage was a 93 mile road race made up of five and a half laps around a pretty flat circuit with the exception of a mile long, 500ft elevation gain, climb before the hilltop finish. The day was very chaotic throughout as some riders missed their start do to an accident on the I-10 freeway, and then for most of the race there was a 30+ mph wind, which meant a cross/head wind for 3/4 of the coarse. Only the climb had a tail wind, so there was really no section to recover on each lap. I felt pretty miserable for most of the race, getting dropped off the back of the pack twice up the climb and having to chase back on on the down hill. I ended up sitting at the back for two laps before the finish, hating life. But to my surprise when we got to the last time up the climb, no one wanted to keep the tempo high, and everyone just sat looking at each other trying to conserve all they had left for the finishing sprint. By this time in the race I just wanted it to be over and I got some good motivation on the last lap just knowing that I was going to finish. I was sick of sitting and waiting at the back, spinning, and decided to put it in a high gear and do a little power climb because I knew I was not going to have a sprint at the line. This ended up dropping about half of the 30 rider pack I was in, and I ended up leading out the remaining riders with 5 coming around me with 100m to go. So I finished seventh since there was one solo attack that got away form our group. I was completely amazed at how it all unfolded, and it turns out I might become an alright road racer after all.
The VoS ended with a criterium in downtown Phoenix. It was nothing special, just a normal Cat 2 early season crit. The course was fun but the skill of the field made the crit very sketchy and nerve wracking. The 55 minute race came down to a field sprint, I had poor positioning and was just happy to finish in one piece in the field.
Overall, I finished 18th in the omnium. Right after the crit I drove through the night with my roommate Kiel and returned home at 8am. Nothing like ending the trip with a bang.
As for the recap of the Valley of the Sun Race, I would say I am pretty happy overall with my performance being that the race was the culmination of the biggest five week base block I have ever done (base meaning high volume, low intensity training which is the beginning of every cyclist's season each year); being that I have never put in a real full base block. Last year I was out from January until May with a knee injury and then I jumped straight onto the track never really putting in the slow long rides. So I am feeling pretty good already after putting in this work this season.
The VoS race started off with a 22k (13mile) time trial which I ended up 35th, about 1:35 off the leader in the Cat. 2 field. I have never been a good time-trialist but my roommate Kiel lent me his TT bike and I was able to get a decent position on it in the week prior to the race. I felt strong and focused in the first TT of the season which at this stage is about all you can ask for. The speed will come in the next two months but it is good to maintain strength year around.
The next day the Cat 2 stage was a 93 mile road race made up of five and a half laps around a pretty flat circuit with the exception of a mile long, 500ft elevation gain, climb before the hilltop finish. The day was very chaotic throughout as some riders missed their start do to an accident on the I-10 freeway, and then for most of the race there was a 30+ mph wind, which meant a cross/head wind for 3/4 of the coarse. Only the climb had a tail wind, so there was really no section to recover on each lap. I felt pretty miserable for most of the race, getting dropped off the back of the pack twice up the climb and having to chase back on on the down hill. I ended up sitting at the back for two laps before the finish, hating life. But to my surprise when we got to the last time up the climb, no one wanted to keep the tempo high, and everyone just sat looking at each other trying to conserve all they had left for the finishing sprint. By this time in the race I just wanted it to be over and I got some good motivation on the last lap just knowing that I was going to finish. I was sick of sitting and waiting at the back, spinning, and decided to put it in a high gear and do a little power climb because I knew I was not going to have a sprint at the line. This ended up dropping about half of the 30 rider pack I was in, and I ended up leading out the remaining riders with 5 coming around me with 100m to go. So I finished seventh since there was one solo attack that got away form our group. I was completely amazed at how it all unfolded, and it turns out I might become an alright road racer after all.
The VoS ended with a criterium in downtown Phoenix. It was nothing special, just a normal Cat 2 early season crit. The course was fun but the skill of the field made the crit very sketchy and nerve wracking. The 55 minute race came down to a field sprint, I had poor positioning and was just happy to finish in one piece in the field.
Overall, I finished 18th in the omnium. Right after the crit I drove through the night with my roommate Kiel and returned home at 8am. Nothing like ending the trip with a bang.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Back in B-Town
I made it back from Phoenix, after an 13 hr drive through the night with my roommate Kiel. Luckily, the whole trip went very smoothly...I will post more later after I get a bit of sleep.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Big Trip So Far and the First Race of the Season
Sorry for the bulk post. The classy Embassy Suites Hotel we were staying at in Albuquerque wanted $10 a day for internet, ha! You can get free internet at a Holiday Inn. Someone please explain this one to me.
The trip out of the deep freeze has been wonderful, busy and rewarding. The trip started with a seven day stay in Albuquerque to train with the Cycling Center Team. The weather was a bit cold in the beginning with around 45 degree highs but quickly warmed up into the 60's. With warm air finally in the face, the forth week of base was long and relaxing.
One of the highlights of the stay was a citywide group ride organized in support of the Veloport Project that wants to bring indoor track cycling to NM along with an already completed BMX track and a closed loop road course. The project is in the final stages of funding and if all goes well will be completed in 2008!
The ride consisted of the two pro teams, Navigators and Lipton, along with the Cycling Center picking up the community at the Balloon Museum and then going on a nice hour long loop. The ride went as planed and the community was riding alongside the pros for most of the ride. They all seemed to really enjoy it, and best part of all was the overall acceptance of the community as not a single motorist honked at the group of over 200 rolling through lights waving as if in a parade. Velonews was there to mark the occasion, see Albuquerque Group Ride Article.
The day before I left for Arizona, the Cycling Center Team took a trip to the top of Sandia Peak with the intention of snowshoeing for four hours at 10,500 feet. I had never been snowshoeing before, but have been itching to get out in the wilderness for about a month. I was literally on cloud-nine tromping around in the snow on the top of the peak for the day. Snowshoeing is addicting as I now want to get a pair when I get back to Colorado. Think of it as hiking without trails, so you can literally point to where you want to go and just set out for it. The shoes were capable of going up, down, and through anything because of the nice cramp-on style spikes on the bottom of the shoes.
Scott Tietzel and I on top of an old cabin at the top of the peak.
We all had a little too good of time doing some Extreme Snowshoeing, i.e. jumping off or sliding down any hill, or cliff we came across.
The only casualty of the day...my jeans.
Lesson Learned: When jumping off cliffs with snowshoes on, beware of spikes on bottom!
After my adventures in NM, the trip continued on to Phoenix, AZ, where it only rains in the winter. Arriving on Thursday, I set out to do a little ride with the extra power of about 50 watts with the lower elevation. Too bad the altitude EPO only lasts a couple of days, but it is always a super human good time. Kind of makes you feel like you could win a stage in the Tour!
As if all the training in NM along with the 4 hour high altitude snowshoe, all without a rest day, was not enough, I went on to pack the weekend with the local Phoenix group ride on Saturday and then race on Sunday. The race was the McDowell Mountain Circuit Race, where the Cat 2 Men had the opportunity to race a total of 2:15 with both a Cat 2 race and a Pro,1,2 race.
I started off by riding the 45min Cat 2 race. The pace was good and not too taxing, with the race coming down to a field sprint out of the last corner 300m from the finish. Unfortunately I ended up first out of the corner since the four that were in front of me pulled off on the long hill up to the corner. Thus I was left with no option but to start the sprint and hope for the best. I ended up leading out two other guys who came around me by the finish leaving me in third. Overall not to shabby for the first race of the year.
Results of Cat 2 Race, where for some reason I am listed as second...could I get some more prize money?
So with that performance, I was for some reason feeling pretty good after all the volume, travel, and altitude in the past week. My coach and I decided that the second race of an hour and a half with the pros was a good idea and I should just sit in with the pack. The race was faster but manageable up until about 45 min left where a nice storm rolled in complete with rain and an almost constant headwind. The pack immediately exploded with about half the field of 55 dropping out by the end. I ended up time-trialling the rest of the race about a minute off the back of the field. For some reason I get very motivated in the rain, and didn't really mind trying to catch the field as I could never put in that kind of effort out training by myself. It is also somewhat rewarding to go rolling by other racers who have been shot out the back of the field later in the race and have obviously just thrown in the towel.
Result of Pro,1,2 Race
In conclusion the last two weeks have been some of the best early season training and racing I have ever put in and the change in pace has been mostly relaxing. The rest of the week will be in preparation for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race this weekend. I am going for a top five so we will see how it turns out. Until then I am watching and hoping that the snow in Colorado will stop by the time I get back on Monday but right now it looks like there will be a welcome back snow on Tuesday. When is it going to stop? I want spring!
The trip out of the deep freeze has been wonderful, busy and rewarding. The trip started with a seven day stay in Albuquerque to train with the Cycling Center Team. The weather was a bit cold in the beginning with around 45 degree highs but quickly warmed up into the 60's. With warm air finally in the face, the forth week of base was long and relaxing.
One of the highlights of the stay was a citywide group ride organized in support of the Veloport Project that wants to bring indoor track cycling to NM along with an already completed BMX track and a closed loop road course. The project is in the final stages of funding and if all goes well will be completed in 2008!
The ride consisted of the two pro teams, Navigators and Lipton, along with the Cycling Center picking up the community at the Balloon Museum and then going on a nice hour long loop. The ride went as planed and the community was riding alongside the pros for most of the ride. They all seemed to really enjoy it, and best part of all was the overall acceptance of the community as not a single motorist honked at the group of over 200 rolling through lights waving as if in a parade. Velonews was there to mark the occasion, see Albuquerque Group Ride Article.
The day before I left for Arizona, the Cycling Center Team took a trip to the top of Sandia Peak with the intention of snowshoeing for four hours at 10,500 feet. I had never been snowshoeing before, but have been itching to get out in the wilderness for about a month. I was literally on cloud-nine tromping around in the snow on the top of the peak for the day. Snowshoeing is addicting as I now want to get a pair when I get back to Colorado. Think of it as hiking without trails, so you can literally point to where you want to go and just set out for it. The shoes were capable of going up, down, and through anything because of the nice cramp-on style spikes on the bottom of the shoes.
Scott Tietzel and I on top of an old cabin at the top of the peak.
We all had a little too good of time doing some Extreme Snowshoeing, i.e. jumping off or sliding down any hill, or cliff we came across.
The only casualty of the day...my jeans.
Lesson Learned: When jumping off cliffs with snowshoes on, beware of spikes on bottom!
After my adventures in NM, the trip continued on to Phoenix, AZ, where it only rains in the winter. Arriving on Thursday, I set out to do a little ride with the extra power of about 50 watts with the lower elevation. Too bad the altitude EPO only lasts a couple of days, but it is always a super human good time. Kind of makes you feel like you could win a stage in the Tour!
As if all the training in NM along with the 4 hour high altitude snowshoe, all without a rest day, was not enough, I went on to pack the weekend with the local Phoenix group ride on Saturday and then race on Sunday. The race was the McDowell Mountain Circuit Race, where the Cat 2 Men had the opportunity to race a total of 2:15 with both a Cat 2 race and a Pro,1,2 race.
I started off by riding the 45min Cat 2 race. The pace was good and not too taxing, with the race coming down to a field sprint out of the last corner 300m from the finish. Unfortunately I ended up first out of the corner since the four that were in front of me pulled off on the long hill up to the corner. Thus I was left with no option but to start the sprint and hope for the best. I ended up leading out two other guys who came around me by the finish leaving me in third. Overall not to shabby for the first race of the year.
Results of Cat 2 Race, where for some reason I am listed as second...could I get some more prize money?
So with that performance, I was for some reason feeling pretty good after all the volume, travel, and altitude in the past week. My coach and I decided that the second race of an hour and a half with the pros was a good idea and I should just sit in with the pack. The race was faster but manageable up until about 45 min left where a nice storm rolled in complete with rain and an almost constant headwind. The pack immediately exploded with about half the field of 55 dropping out by the end. I ended up time-trialling the rest of the race about a minute off the back of the field. For some reason I get very motivated in the rain, and didn't really mind trying to catch the field as I could never put in that kind of effort out training by myself. It is also somewhat rewarding to go rolling by other racers who have been shot out the back of the field later in the race and have obviously just thrown in the towel.
Result of Pro,1,2 Race
In conclusion the last two weeks have been some of the best early season training and racing I have ever put in and the change in pace has been mostly relaxing. The rest of the week will be in preparation for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race this weekend. I am going for a top five so we will see how it turns out. Until then I am watching and hoping that the snow in Colorado will stop by the time I get back on Monday but right now it looks like there will be a welcome back snow on Tuesday. When is it going to stop? I want spring!
Good Standup to Release Some Stress
If you have 45 minutes to spare this is a good verity show type standup by Demetri Martin:
Video from Comedy Central's Standup Showdown
Video from Comedy Central's Standup Showdown
Monday, February 12, 2007
Where the cloud over how to eat started...
From Oat Bran to Omega-3 the age of nutriantism is upon us. From the National Academy of Science's 1982 report on nutrients, the "Food Industry" has been ever evolving to "produce" the best foods for you. Now it is time to unveil the truth about how the government has manipulated and disordered Americans' view on what is healthy to make room for those companies which profit from this confusion. The time is now to start eating real food and stop eating processed designed nutrients, because for once we should believe that we don't know everything about what foods contain, and the 17,000 new food products produced each year are NOT "better" for us. Stick to what your great great grandma ate and you will be healthier.
This is one of the most informative and convincing articles I have come across as to where we went wrong and what you can to do fix it starting today; it is verbose but it will be well worth your time.
So start by becoming informed through logical argument: Read Unhappy Meals by Michael Pollan
This is one of the most informative and convincing articles I have come across as to where we went wrong and what you can to do fix it starting today; it is verbose but it will be well worth your time.
So start by becoming informed through logical argument: Read Unhappy Meals by Michael Pollan
Sunday, February 11, 2007
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