Computer down, that's why no posts lately

I'm sorry for not posting here lately, but my computer is messed up somehow. I can't seem to get it to register my log in when I turn it on. Well, I've been riding as much as possible here lately. I've done the group rides here with the local club the past few weeks. It's been fun. A couple of Mondays ago, I rode down the the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for an easy ride. I had ridden to & from work, so I was looking foward to taking it kind of easy. I met Steve, his wife, & another couple there. Kim & her husband Jim showed up & said that they weren't going to ride as fast as I was. I told Kim that I was there to do an easy ride, so not to worry. Kim, Jim, Steve, & I headed out on the Perry Parkway towards Hayneville. Kim & Jim were doing over 20 mph at the beginning of the ride. I looked at Steve & asked if I had heard things that they said they weren't going to ride fast. He thought the same thing. I then got to the front & slowed the pace down a bit. I told them that the only time I was going to go hard was climbing up the hill to Hayneville. We kept the pace about 18 mph till the hill. I then proceeded to ride up the hill hard. I never had the speed drop below 17.5 mph up the climb. I'm definately stronger this year. We then just did the B loop. They did the extra horseshoe, but I still had to ride home & told them to have a good time. All in all I did 50 more miles on top of the commute to & from work that day. I did intervals the next day & my legs certainly were feeling it after all was said & done. I was only able to do 5 sets, but they still hurt. That Wednesday was a pyramid workout, & my legs felt even worse than after the interval workout. Thankfully the rest of the week was all easy rides. The following week I decided to do the local group rides. I went on the Tuesday ride & after the first climb, Jesse was with me & told me we had a gap on the other riders. He asked me what I wanted to do & I replied "Make them earn it" & proceeded to keep a steady pace from there on. I caught the earlier group not too long after the silo & was never caught after that. Wednesday was a tempo ride & ended up doing about 2 hours on the bike. I did the Thursday group ride. On the hill into Hayneville I got a gap on the rest of the group & just went with it. I saw them getting closer in Elko, but once I turned on Elko Rd, I had a tailwind & was able to pick the pace up. I saw a rider up ahead of me & it turned out to be Eddie. We hooked up on the horseshoe part of the ride, he pulled me the rest of the way, but we never were caught. My legs were really feeling it after that ride. I took Friday off to recover. This past Saturday, Shane & I drove up to Cumming to pre-ride the race route for May 10th. We got up there & it was raining. We drove the route once to get an idea what it's going to be like. The beginning of the route is going to be tough. It's all up & down. The rest of the route isn't anything I haven't seen before. We drove back to the start & were going to ride the route when it started raining again. We drove the route one more time to familarize ourselves with it. Yesterday I did a tempo ride to Perry & back. My legs felt good the entire route. Today was intervals. I did 6 sets of 5 x 5's & my legs are certainly feeling it. I'm glad I get to take it easy the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend. I'm going to give it my best shot & we'll just let the chips fall where they may. Stay tuned for a race report next week.....

I know it's been a while since last post.

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks since my last post here. My computer decided it doesn't like me much anymore & doesn't want to work right. I'm going to have to get it looked at here sometime soon. Since my last post, I've just been doing my training that Mike has so graciously provided me. I've done hill repeats, my 5 x 5 intervals, only this time with another twist. Once I have 2 minutes left in the hard 5 minutes, I'm to increase the intensity, then do that again with 1 minute left, & finally give it everything I have the final 30 seconds. I'm telling you, that is one hard workout. I did that last Tuesday & my legs were shot after about 5 sets, the only problem was that I still had about 15 miles to ride before I was home. Needless to say, those last 15 miles were at a recovery pace. Last Wednesday was a recovery ride & boy it was very welcome. On Thursday I took a rest day then did mock sprints on that Friday. I was going to go on the group ride last Saturday, but Mike called me just before I left to tell me not to waste my time seeing as it was raining up in McDonough. I then decided to head to the Perry Welcome Center to see if anyone was going to show up for a ride there, but then it started raining there also. I just decided that it was not meant for me to ride that day. Last Sunday afternoon I headed out & ran into my friend Eddie & joined him for about a 45 mile ride. We put some hard efforts in & my legs felt good. This past Monday was a high tempo ride which was done on the trainer due to rain. I rode for about 90 minutes. On Tuesday, it was the same interval workout as the week before, but this time I stayed closer to home. My legs still hurt after the workout. Yesterday was a pyramid workout, starting out with a 15 minute warm-up then 1 mintue hard, 1 minute easy, increasing the hard & easy efforts by 1 minute till I hit 6 minutes. After a 6 minute rest it was another 6 minutes hard, but the rest periods on the way back down were a minute shorter. I'm telling you, my legs were shot after that workout & are sore today. I'm planning on going for an easy ride today & keeping it on the small ring. I'm hoping for good weather this weekend & doing the group ride on Saturday. Stay tuned for further reports on my suffering......

Group Ride with Southern Crescent Group

Yesterday was my first weekday group ride with the group. I really had no idea what to expect & was just looking forward to a good ride. The pace was fast from the start. It's a good thing I warmed up before the ride or I'd have been in a world of hurt. We headed out & just kept a good paceline going, taking turns up front for a bit. I did my share up front & was feeling good. I tried to stay near the front seeing as I hadn't ridden this route before. We got close to Atlanta Motor Speedway & I was dropped a bit on a climb. I was alone until I turned the corner to the back side of the racetrack. I caught Scott there, he had been dropped from the other riders. I left him briefly, trying to catch the 3 guys up front. I followed them & they had gotten out of site. I turned the wrong way at one intersection & had to catch up to another rider to make sure I was going the right way. I hit a stop light & Scott & David caught up to me. We decided to work together till the end of the ride. We hit Mt. Carmel & picked up the pace with me in the lead. I took a good long pull, then let the others take turns up front. We made the final turn towards Epic bikes & just cruised in from there. It was a fast ride. We did about 27 miles with an average speed of 22.4 mph. This is one fast group to ride with. I just wanted to say thanks to Mike for all the workouts, they helped me stay with the group for most of the ride. I still need to lose some more weight & work on my climbing. All that will come in time & with effort. I know I'm much stronger than last year & look forward to getting stronger & faster. All in all a good time with a good bunch of riders.

Wrap up from last week

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but life has been keeping me busy. I was pretty busy with my training all last week. On Tuesday, I was doing intervals, the usual 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, but Mike threw a twist in it. In in the final minute of the on section, I was to increase the pace & then let it all hang out during the final 30 seconds. I was to do this 6 times. The first time it really hurt, but I survived. I thought I had picked a route that would give me at tailwind for most of the workout, but the wind shifted & I ended up doing all 6 sets with somewhat of a headwind. My legs were quite tired when I got home. On Wednesday it was an easy tempo ride. My legs needed it. On Thursday, I rode with the bike club in Warner Robins. I just sat on till we hit the big climb. I just kept a steady rhythym & actually rode everyone in the group off my wheel. I never dropped below 17 mph for the climb. I've never climbed that hill that fast before. We regrouped at the church then headed out. I was in the lead & got a gap & kept my cadence steady. The group was behind me, when I acutally got stopped by a train. That's the first time in 6 years doing that route that has happened. Needless to say, they caught up to me. Once the train passed we started again. I just stayed with the group till we hit the horseshoe part of the route. For some reason the group slowed up & I just kept on going. I just put it in cruise mode & kept a steady pace. I was getting near Elko Rd, when I noticed that they were getting a bit closer. I decided that if they were going to catch me, they were going to have to work for it. I kicked it up a notch & put it in time trial mode. I was able to stay away & was pleased with my effort. On Saturday it was the Peach Blossom ride in Byron. Some of the Securtiy Bank riders showed up & I knew that they were going to hammer the ride. I stayed with them as long as I could & we ended up doing over 21 miles in the first hour of the ride. They decided to pick it up a bit more, but I thought better of trying to stay with them & keep my own pace. The ride was fun, I rode with another group of riders for a bit, then went off on my own up one of the climbs. I finished the ride by myself & I was feeling the effort about the last 3-4 miles. I ended up doing 66 miles with an average speed of 20.3 mph. The hard work is paying off & I can tell I'm stronger than last year. I'm planning on doing a group ride with the guys from Epic this Wednesday, that should give me a good indication of how fit I am right now. I'm looking forward to a hard, but fun ride. I'll let eveyone know how it goes.

Catch up time

This weekend, I went to the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for a group ride. Chip was there when I arrived, then John, & Tom arrived. We were getting ready to leave when Shane showed up. I told everyone else I'd wait for Shane & catch up to them. Shane was saying he wanted to do 130 miles to get ready for the Bike Ride Across Florida. I told him I couldn't go that far, but I'd ride with him until we got to a point where he wanted to go farther. We left & proceeded to try to catch the other guys. We ended up catching them on Hayneville Hill, once we got to the top, the other guys changed the route we were going to ride. They didn't want to ride down Pitts Rd, because of the hills. I told them, that was fine with me & I would catch up to Shane & wait for them at the turn they said. I then put it in the big ring & caught up to Shane & rode a bit further with him. He was headed to Hawkinsville, but we were headed to Unadilla. I got to the intersection & waited for the others to arrive. We headed down Klondike towards Pitts Rd, I had gotten a gap from the others, so when I got to the intersection, I had to wait for the others. Chip & I decided to ride our pace & we waited for the others once we got to Unadilla. After leaving the store, Chip & I headed out on our own. Once we hit Elko Rd, we put it in the big ring & started hammering it. I pulled most of the way, my legs were feeling good. Once we hit the final climb, I kept a steady pace, but seemed that it was a bit much for Chip. He dropped back, but I thought he would catch up at the top of the climb. Once I saw that he wasn't catching up, I put it in the big ring & hammered down the last downhill. I figured that if he was going to catch me, I would at least make him work for it. I hit the intersection at the parkway extension & saw that Chip was a bit behind me, I waited for him & he asked me what I've been doing to get better. I told him that it was due to doing the Peach Peloton rides, & other workouts I had been doing over the winter. I also told him that losing about 20 lbs. didn't hurt eaither. Today was hill repeats. The wind outside was brutal, it was out of the NW @ 16 mph with gusts. I drove to the Perry Welcome Center to ride out the Perry Parkway to use Hayneville Hill for my workout. I wanted to keep a consistent pace up the hill on each climb. I am happy to say that I succeeded in doing that. I kept it between 14.5 -16 mph each time up the hill. I did 4 climbs & thought about doing one more before common sense kicked in & told me that I had a headwind to ride into in order to get back to my car. The wind was a pain, but I suffered & managed to get back to the car. All in all a good workout, my climbing seems to be getting better. Stay tuned for more.....

Perry-Roubaix Race Report

Well, the first mass start races for this season are in the books. On Saturday was the circuit race. It was a short course with a couple of small climbs. The class I was in was scheduled for 15 laps of the course, which they said would be 21 miles. The pace was fast from the beginning. The pack was staying together & the pace was comfortable for me. A couple of times other riders tried getting away, but the pack chased down each & every attempt. I even tried my hand at getting away with another rider. One of the Aaron riders said he was going to try a break on the back side of the course & wanted to know if anyone would go with him. I said I would give it a go & one other rider said the same. He went up the right side of the pack with both of us in tow, but we really didn't get much of a gap before we were caught. The pace was high enough not to allow anyone much of a gap. We stayed together until the last turn, I was in a good position for a top ten finish, but coming out of the final corner, I was cut off & had to let up a bit & finished 13th out of 31 riders. I was quite pleased with being able to stay with the pack the entire race. The workouts Mike has me doing are helping for sure. On Sunday was the road race. I know the course well, but it's not really my forte. There is just too much climbing on it. The first climb up Elko Rd was a bit fast for me but I managed to catch the pack on Gilbert, just as I got back on, someone up front must have attacked, because the pack picked up the pace. My legs started to cramp up & I knew that if I tried to catch the break, I'd never finish. I just settled into a fast pace that was comfortable for me to finish the race. The dirt section of the course was packed pretty good, so I was able to keep a good pace on it. Each time up Elko Rd hurt a bit more than before. I was able to catch up to a couple of other riders from my class & we rode together for the rest of the second lap. On the third lap, I thought I wasn't going to be able to get up the climbs, but I just dug deep & gave it my best, knowing I could recover a bit on the back side of the course. I rode with another rider who came up from Florida for the race & we worked well together. We both decided that we were going to finish the race, no matter what. On the finaly lap, he got a gap on me going up Elko, but I just kept a steady pace for me. I even managed to pass another rider from the other Competitive class. I kept up a steady pace on the dirt & gave it all I had on the back part of the course. I managed to finish 29th & made the finish list. I'm just happy that I finished 4 laps of that course. All in all it was a fun weekend of racing & now it's time to get ready for my next races. Stay tuned for more.....

Getting ready for Perry-Roubaix

I've been getting ready for the races this weekend in Perry. I did my intervals on Monday & it was hard as usual. On Tuesday I did the Ride to the Capitol & we put a hard effort on the way back. On Wednesday I was just cruising & ran into my friend Rob, who is back from being deployed. We just cruised around & caught up on things. Today was mock sprints. I did my 12 sets of them & then met some other cycling friends of mine & just rode easy with them. I'm looking foward to this weekend of racing. I'm going out there & giving it all I have. I'm borrowing a set of Kyrsium SL wheels for the races from my friend Will. I used these wheels on my ride today. I might not want to return them. This is one nice set of wheels. I'm probably going to take tomorrow off & have the bike checked out by Charles just to make sure things are working great for this weekend. Stay tuned for race reports this weekend........