Back on Track Again

Well, last week was a total washout for my Cyclo-Core/Zen workouts. I was pretty much busy most of the time & was a bit fatigued from things. I remember Graeme saying that you should listen to your body & if you're fatigued, skip a workout instead of getting yourself wornout and becoming sick. I'm back on the schedule again & feeling good about doing all the workouts. The only bad news was at my Weight Watchers meeting. I gained weight again this week. I'm going to start back to basics again & writing everything I eat down. I think that was my main failure two out of the past three weeks. So I have to concentrate on both what I eat & continuing with the Core/Zen program. Here's to a better week........

Peach Peloton #4

Today was the fourth ride of the Peach Peloton. We left from Howard Middle School in north Macon. The weather today was just a carbon copy of yesterday. Cold and a bit windy. The route we took today was a nice route. We started with a headwind so we would have a tail wind on the way home. My legs were a bit sore from yesterday's ride, so I didn't know how I would do on the ride today. I was able to keep with the group for the first part of the ride. After we were on the back part of ride, Chad decided to break up the group into 2 smaller groups to work on a rotating paceline. I was with Chad, Jake, Charles, Doug, and another ride I can't remember his name. I was doing well, taking my turns up front until we hit a good climb. I felt it in my legs, that it was going to be painful and did my best to stay with the group, but I had to drop back and climb at my own pace. We caught Charles' friend Chris from the first group and pulled him along. We all regrouped in Forsyth and headed back home. The way home was nothing but rollers and I really felt everyone of them. I had dropped off the back of the group, but was keeping them in sight. The attack zone started as the group made a left turn onto Maynard Mill Rd. I was behind everyone, so I just rode at a good pace for me. The attack zone was a long one today & I lost sight of the group once they picked the pace up. I made it to Zebulon Rd, and the hills on that road really hurt. My legs were on fire climbing up some of those hills. I actually made it back to the school in one piece. My legs were really fragged after two hard rides. I haven't done anything like that in quite some time, so I'm planning on taking an easy ride sometime tomorrow afternoon if the weather co-operates. Once we got back to the school, we noticed that Charles' friend Chris hadn't arrived at the school. We waited a bit & Chad said he'd go look for him, but I volunteered to take Charles and drive back on the route to see if we could find him. We drove the attack zone back to 42 and found no sign of Chris. We turned back on 42 & headed further south, thinking he might have missed the turn onto Maynard Mill Rd. Charles called his wife to get the number and we found out that Chris did miss the turn and rode for about another 7 miles down the road before turning back and heading back to Forsyth to have his wife drive him back to the school. I waited at the school with Charles until Chris & his wife pulled up. My average speed for this ride was the slowest one so far, but I think it has more to do with my legs being sore from riding yesterday and not recovering as quickly. We'll just have to see how things go next weekend. Stay tuned for more.......

Post Turkey Day Ride.

Today was a post Thanksgiving Day ride. We met at Bernd Elementary School in East Macon for about a 60 mile ride. The weather was a bit on the cold side, but we had a pretty good turnout for the ride. We headed out and just rode 2 abreast for the first part of the ride. Once we crossed one intersection, Chad said he wanted to start working on a rolling paceline. We were on a section of road that wasn't too hilly and it was about 7 miles until the next turn. We started out rollling right to left. The goal was to just keep a steady pace and when you got your turn at the front, you just rolled to the left and let the next guy pass and he did the same. We kept up a good tempo doing this & it was really easy to learn how to do it. We all took turns up front and Chad told us that if we couldn't take our turn up front, not to worry about having to sit in the back & just be pulled around. We hit another road and this one had a couple of good climbs on it. Chad asked that we try to keep it together as best as we could so we wouldn't drop anyone on the climbs. We did well on the first climb, the group staying together, but on the second climb we started to lose some riders, so we just backed the pace down so they could catch up with the group. We hit Jeffersonville & decided to make a store stop. The rest of the way back into Macon was going to be into the wind. The decision was made to ride 2 abreast and at each mile marker sign we would rotate the lead. Sitting in the back was easy, but when you're up front, it's a bit harder to keep the same pace going. The entire route back was nothing but rolling hills. We all took our turns up front & we arrived back safely. All in all it was a good ride and I'm glad I was able to get out & ride. Stay tuned for the next update with the Peach Peloton......

Peach Peloton Ride #3

Today's Peach Peloton ride route was called the Forsyth Metric Century. We started out at Howard Middle School & headed out on the route the same way we did 2 weeks ago. The weather at the start was about 30 degrees, but we had 18-20 people show up for the ride. I dressed in my cold weather gear & we headed out. The ride for the first few miles was cold, but I knew that in time, I'd warm up a bit. The route was pretty much rolling hills. We used back roads to get to Forsyth & the scenery was beautiful. On one road, we had a bit of competition. We were riding past a farm when I looked over and saw 3 horses running along their fence line with us. It seemed that they were having fun seeing all the crazy humans that were dressed funny on the road. Once we got into Forsyth we had to stop for a funeral to pass by. It wasn't very long until we were on our way once again. Riding down 41 was starting to get a bit hairy sometimes, some vehicles gave up plenty of room and were patient as they waited for a clear section of road to pass us, but others weren't. There were at least 2 close calls for accidents as some people were in too much of a hurry to check & see if the road in the opposite direction was clear to pass us. We also had a few vehicles pass by us a bit on the close side. Eddie, the ride leader, says, he's not going to ride a group the size that we had today down that road again. It's just a bit to dangerous. We finally hit the left turn and the attacks started. I did my best to hang on, but as usual I was dropped off the back. I kept up a hard effort for me all the way until the end of the attack zone. I'm surprised that my back was feeling as well as it was the entire ride after doing a Cyclo-Zen back routine yesterday. All in all it was a good ride & I was able to finish not that far back from the rest of the group. Today's totals: 66 miles, 3:24:15, average speed 19.62. Tomorrow is an off day for me, then back to the routine on Monday. Stay tuned for more updates.......

Off to a good start

I've started the Cyclo-Core 12 week offseason workout plan this week & it's been interseting to say the least. I've done every workout so far and some are easy while some are challenging. I had to do one legged drills (OLD's) the other day & boy do I need to work on my pedal stroke. I've never done drills like that in all the time I've been cycling & I found out that I have a major dead spot on my pedal stroke. It's going to take time to get used to doing them, but I have every intention to improve my stroke before the racing season starts. Most of the on the bike exercises have dealt with high cadence pedaling & speed. They've been pretty easy to do, but they are a workout. I finally received my copy of Cyclo-Zen & I have to do one of the workouts tomorrow. I'll let anyone who reads this how things go. On Saturday is the next Peach Peloton ride & we're planning on doing 65 miles for that ride. I'm looking foward to it, I've really enjoyed the first two rides. The group that shows up are a great bunch to ride with. That's about all I have for now, stay tuned for more.....

Forgotten Lesson Learned

Today I was reminded of how out of shape my core muscles are. I had to do the bonus ab & core workout today & it was brutal. I had a hard time doing some of the exercises. I did my best, but I know I'll have to get better at them in order to get stronger. The hindu squats of the body resistance workout weren't that bad today, but doing the bicycle kicks after the ab & core workout earlier was very hard. I did the best I could today & have to remind myself that this is only the start of the program & I'll get stronger as long as I stick with the workouts & do them to the best of my abilities. Stay tuned for more............

Cyclo-Core/Zen Workouts Have Begun

Today I offically started the 12 week offseason training program from Cyclo-Core. I was only on the bike for about 30 minutes, and most of the workout consisted of high cadence pedaling. My legs felt good doing it & I'm actually looking foward to the rest of the weeks workouts. The only bad news I had today is that I have gained a bit of weight since last week. I know it's my fault & I'm going to rectify that situation. I'm going to be more diligent on what I eat and make sure I exercise as often as I can. This is the first time I've gained any weight since starting Weight Watchers & I'm hoping it will be the last time. I'm going to get back on schedule for my weight loss and get to what I need to be so I can be competitive next season. Stay tuned for how the Cyclo-Core program works out.

Recovery Ride

Today was a recovery day for me. I rode with my friend Will and we just took it easy the entire ride. It's days like this that I remember why I love riding my bike so much. The weather was great, not much wind at all today. We just cruised along the roads, checking the scenery and enjoyed the fall weather. My legs feel much better after this ride. I'm looking forward to starting my offseason workouts tomorrow, we'll have to see how hard they are & how well they'll work. That's all for now, stayed tuned for more updates......

Peach Peloton Ride #2

Today was the second Peach Peloton ride of the season. This time we started in East Macon & the route was a bit longer and hillier than last week. The weather was great & we all left the starting point for the ride. This route this week was just rollers the entire ride. There wasn't many stretches of flat rode to ride. It was a great route to ride, there were a few big hills to climb, but we all stayed together. The attack zone was interesting this week. We made the turn onto the road that was the attack zone, but no one took off right away. Chad took a flyer on a downhill stretch of road & I was able to hang with the group as we caught him. The road then started going up & Christian went on the attack, I had to let them go or I wasn't going to finish the ride. The plan was to regroup at the railroad tracks at the end of the road then finish the ride as a group. I was able to make it to the tracks & I wasn't the last one this time. We rode the rest of the ride as a group and had a great ride. All in all we did over 57 miles in less than 3 hours. My legs actually don't hurt as bad this time after the ride as they did last week. I have been told that next week, we're doing a metric century (62.5 miles). I'm looking forward to it & seeing if I can survive another attack zone. Until next week's ride, stay tuned......

Cyclo-Core & Cyclo-Zen on the way.

Today I ordered the 12 week off season training package from Cyclo-Core. It consists of the Cyclo-Core program which I used last year & loved. It also contains Cyclo-Zen and a specific training plan to follow. I'm looking forward to using this system during the winter months. If the systems works as wellas Cyclo-Core did last year, I should be ready for just about anything next season. I don't know what to expect with the Cyclo-Zen workouts, but they should be as challenging as the Cyclo-Core workouts are. I hope to receive them by Monday to get started on them. I also went riding with my friend Will. We did the shorter version of the loop we like to do because of the shorted daylight that is left. I kept up a good pace the entire ride. I put in some hard efforts & surprised Will a few times. I pushed the pace on a few of the climbs and he noticed that losing the weight is giving me a bit more pop when I need some. Coming to the end of the ride, he tried getting a jump on me up the last hill, he got a bit of a gap, but I was able to catch him still sitting and climbing. I've never been able to do that before, so the weight loss is helping.

Recovery Ride

Today I did a recovery ride after work. I kept it on the small ring & didn't really push the pace at all. It was a great day to ride and the weather was fantastic. My legs felt pretty good after the ride on Saturday. I'm going to ride as much as I can outdoors this week seeing as the time change just happend & I think this will by my last week to enjoy outdoor riding during the week. I think I'll start the Cyclo-Core workouts next week & enjoy the weather this week. I'm down under 195 lbs as of today, getting lighter slowly, the healthy way. Thanks to everyone who reads this, I appreciate your time.

Peach Peloton has begun

Today was the first Peach Peloton ride for the winter. There was a good group that showed up & was ready to go. Chad gave everyone directions on what was expected of the group, then had one other announcement to make. He told us that the website said there wasn't any attack zones, but he told us that there would be an attack zone. We headed out on the ride, riding 2 abreast at the most. The route we did today consited of rolling hills the entire route. I was able to stay towards the front of the group most of the ride & even took my turns up front pulling the group. The weather was a bit cool at the beginning of the ride, but it warmed up quickly once we got going. We stayed together until we hit the attack zone, then all you know what broke loose. I was doing almost 32 mph & was getting shelled off the back. I did my best to stay in touch with the group, but when you have riders that ride Cat 1/2, Cat 3, & fast Masters class riders, it's not easy staying with them. I know I'll get stronger the more I ride with this group of cyclists. I really had a good time riding with everyone & chatting with them during the ride. I hope that as I lose the weight, I'll get stronger, but we'll just have to see how things go. I'll probably go for a recovery ride tomorrow just so my legs don't get too tight. Stay tuned for more updates.

Getting ready for the weekend

I took yesterday off the bike because my stomach had been bothering me all day. Today I did 30 miles with some hard efforts to get ready for the weekend ride. I did the route I usually do with my friend Will. It's just mainly small rolling hills & things like that. I'm just going to take it easy tomorrow & do a recovery ride to get ready for the first Peach Peloton ride this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing where I stand compared to the other riders that show up. I'll keep everyone who reads this up to date how I do.