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.

Back on the bike

Today was the first day back on my bike since last week. I was up at Atlanta Motor Speedway with my dad all weekend for the Nascar races. I had a great time with my dad, haven't done anything like that for awhile so it was a great weekend. Today I did my time trial course only with a twist. I did the course in reverse. I think it's harder in reverse than my usual way. The wind was a bit more than the last time I did this route, but I survived it. I was able to manage about a 19.8 average speed for a bit over 20 miles. My legs felt good the entire ride which I was a bit surprised about. I'm going to ride as often as possible this week seeing as the clock moves back an hour this Sunday, so not many more chances to ride outdoors after work. I'm planning on starting the Cyclo-Core workouts next Monday so I think I'll be a bit sore for awhile till I get used to doing them again. Looking forward to this weekend and starting the Peach Peloton rides, going to be one tough workout from what I hear, but it's going to help me get stronger and ready for next season. Thanks for reading.

Recovery & Good News

Yesterday I went for a recovery ride seeing as I was busy all day Sunday. I kept it in the small ring & just enjoyed the scenery. I was worried that I might get caught by the rain seeing as it was overcast all day long. I figured that if I got wet, I got wet. I was lucky & the rain held off for the ride. I did an 18 mile loop in a little over an hour, my legs felt much better after the ride. The good news is that I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and lost another 2.6 lbs for a total weight loss of 16.8 lbs so far. I was so happy to hear the news. I'm on my way to my goal. I have about 5 more pounds to lose to hit my 10% goal. I'll hopefully hit that in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for everyone who reads this, I appreciate it.

Rollin' to Roberta

Today I decided to do the Rollin to Roberta route. I needed the work climbing and wanted to go for a long ride at least one more time since I'll be at Atlanta Motor Speedway with my dad for the race & won't be able to ride next weekend. I checked out the peach peloton blog & got the details for the first ride coming up on Nov. 3rd. I downloaded the map & am going to print it out during the week. The blog said that the route would be 52 miles and the pace would be 18-20 mph. Today I wanted to be on the bike for at least that long at that pace. The hills were hard on the way out due to a head/cross wind. I was able to handle the rolling hills on the route and the big climbs didn't hurt as bad as I thought they might. I managed to do 63.5 miles and was on the bike for 3:17:25. My average speed was 19.30 mph, thanks to the tail wind on the return trip. I'm going to try to ride as much as possible this week to make up for missing the weekend.

A Good Weekend

I had a good week & ended with a good weekend. Yesterday I went for a ride & did 51.4 miles. My legs felt great the entire ride. I started doing the Tuesday ride in reverse & ran into some other people who were out riding. I headed out to Fort Valley & my legs felt good on the way out there. Once I hit Ft. Valley, I headed back home down Highway 96. I had a bit of a tailwind so I kept the pace up as high as felt comfortable. I managed a pace of 19.9 mph for the entire ride. I then went to the fair & had a great time. Today I went for a recovery ride. My legs felt good & I took it easy. I only did a little over 17 miles due to having to head to my Weight Watchers meeting. Today was good news. I've gone under 200 lbs for a total weight loss of 14.2 lbs so far. I'm hoping I can keep up the weight loss & get in shape for next year. I'm looking forward to start the Peach Peloton rides in about 3 weeks. I hear they'll be hard, but I'll do my best to hang with them. I'll keep updating as often as possible. Thanks for everyone who reads this.

Tuesday Group Ride

Today was the usual Tuesday group ride with the Central Georgia Cycling club. Only 3 of us showed up for the ride. We guessed the weather had something to do with the low turnout. The weather looking out towards Byron was looking pretty dark, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. We took off & it was kind of dark, we thought we would be getting wet at any moment. As we climbed the hills on Lakeview it seemed that the wind picked up & shifted direction. We reached the intersection where if you turn left, you follow the A or B routes, if you go straight, you follow the C route. We all agreed to do the C route due to the weather & getting darker and darker. We were fortunate not to feel a drop of rain the entire route. Once we had a tail wind on the way back, we hammered it good. All in all it was a good ride, 33.7 miles, avg speed 19.2 mph.

Nice weather for riding

Yesterday I went for a hard ride before going to my Weight Watchers meeting. I did about 37 miles in less than 2 hours. My legs felt great the entire ride, even on the return trip against the wind. My average speed for the ride was 19.5 mph. The weather was great, I did what I like to call the Perdue/Larry Walker Parkway loop. There aren't a lot of big hills, but there are plenty of rollers. I was able to go hard up the rollers & my legs really felt good. I can tell that losing the weight is the big factor in getting better at climbing right now. Today was a recovery ride. I just took it at a comfortable pace for most of the ride, but put some harder efforts when going up some of the inclines on the route. The weather today was absolutely great. I love riding in this type of weather. I just wish it was like this all the time, but living in Georgia, I know that's not going to happen. I've lost 10.6 lbs total so far in 5 weeks, I'm getting closer & closer to my goal. I'm hoping to be under 200 lbs the next time I weigh in. I'm at 201.8 this week, but we'll have to see how things go during the week. Thanks to all who check this out. I'll keep updating as often as I can.

Just enjoying the ride

The weather here has been great here lately, it has rained a few days, but we need it. I have been able to get outside & enjoy the cooler temps a few days this week. I have really enjoyed just getting out & ride my bike. I haven't been putting any pressure to ride hard or anything like that. It's been fun checking out the scenery as I ride. I'm just trying to keep a level of fitness before the Peach Peloton rides start next month. I'm looking forward to see if I can survive the first month of them & then we'll go from there. The saddle is getting broken in slowly, but it's getting there. My legs have felt good on each ride. I've been losing weight slowly but steadily. I have lost 9.2 lbs so far on Weight Watchers. I'm still on track to reach my goal weight by my birthday. Here's to keeping it up & sticking with things, wish me luck.

Riding in the rain

Today was the usual group ride with the club. Only four of us showed up for the ride. The group consisted of Chip, Tom, John, & myself. We all decided it was going to be a somewhat easy pace for the ride. We headed out on the ride & as we got close to the Haynesville Hill, it started to rain. We decided to climb the hill & see how things got at the top. Once we hit the top, it wasn't that bad yet so we decided to do the short Thursday route. Once we got on Grovania Rd., the rain picked up a bit, but still wasn't that bad. As we got on Payne Rd, we started to see a bit of lightning. After seeing that, Chip & I decided to pick up the pace to get back to the church before it got any worse. We left Tom & John behind & picked things up. I was surprised at how my legs were feeling the entire ride, especially after the effort I put in yesterday. I was able to keep a good steady pace the entire ride & my legs never really felt all that sore. I'm sure I'll feel it here in the next day or two. I actually do enjoy riding in the rain from time to time even if other guys hate it. Today all in all was a good ride & I had lots of fun.

Hammer Time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today due to time constraints, I deciced it was Hammer Time!!!!!!! I have a route I use every so often to gauge my fitness. It's made up of varied terrain not really flat but with some climbs that will make you work. I did this route on the 16th and averaged 19.2 mph. Today I did the same route & averaged 20.4 mph. I can see what a difference losing the weight has done so far. I'm down to 204 right now, for a total weight loss of 8.4 lbs. My legs felt good today, climbing was better than usual & I was able to climb the hills in a bigger gear than before. It felt great beating my average speed, that's the incentive I need for right now. I'll do this route at least one or two more times as long as there is light enough to do it to see how my fitness is going with the weight loss. Thanks to everyone who reads this. I'll keep updating on the weight loss as it progresses. Stay tuned.......

Nice day for a ride

Today was a beautiful day for a ride. I got home & got ready to head out on the bike. My legs felt good from the start. I just took it easy the first part of the ride, due to the wind, but I was really enjoying being out on the road. The scenery was great & traffic wasn't that bad. I didn't see anyone else riding, but that's their mistake for missing a great day. I did 35 miles today & rode some rolling hills. Losing the weight is helping me climb better and it's getting easier to go uphill, still not my favorite part of riding, but I'll get better if I work at it. I hope to be able to ride most of this week, but it will depend on the weather. I'll try to get better at posting more often. Stay tuned for more.......

I know, I've been very lazy about posting

I know that I've been extremely lazy about posting anything on here lately. I've been busy with other things & the weather here lately has been kind of on the wet side, so I haven't been able to ride as much as I would like to. Well, I've pretty much finished my racing for this year & it's been a big learning experience. I had lots of fun racing, if you call suffering at the back of the pack most of the time fun, but I did learn alot. I have some ideas as to what I need to do this off-season and will do my best to become a better rider. The first thing that I need to accomplish for next year is to lose weight. I have started that by attending Weight Watchers. I started a couple of weeks ago & have already lost 6.6 lbs. I did the short group ride on Thursday & when we started climbing the hill into Haynesville, I noticed a big improvement over the last time I rode that hill. My eating habits and losing the weight have greatly helped my climbing. My goal is to get down to 165 by my birthday on March 5th. I am at 205.8 lbs right now. I figured out that I will have to average a weight loss of 1.7 lbs per week to meet my goal. I also told a friend that when I reach that goal, we are going to climb up Brasstown Bald. I just want to see if I can make it up that climb. I know I can't do it now, but after I lose 40 lbs, I might have a better chance of making it up there. I need to be more consistent in my on the bike training. I need to quit making excuses for not riding when I really should be on the bike. I'm going to continue with the Cyclo-Core workouts & remember to continue doing them during the season, not just do them in the off-season & then quit doing them. I think that was one of my biggest mistakes during the season. I also need to put more time into specific types of workouts, not just going on the group rides & hammering all the time. I need to work on hill climbing, intervals, & sprinting just to name a few things. I have plenty of time to set up a training schedule, so that's the biggest thing for me. They have what they call the Peach Peloton rides here starting in November & I'm going to attend everyone of them. They are for building up base miles. They start out with 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hour rides each Saturday in November and work up the distance, time, & speed each month after that. I had one guy in our club do them last year & said that it really helped him get better. I hope that I can have the same effect he did & that will be a good start for next year. Right now, I'm just riding my bike for the enjoyment of it & keeping a level of fitness. I forgot how much fun just riding a bike is. I have been enjoying just getting on the bike & seeing the sites around here. That's about all I have for now, I'll keep posting about the weight loss & how things are going so anyone can see.

Got some new toys!!!!!!!

Yesterday I got some new toys for the bike. I got some new wheels for my bike and some new tires. I took them out for a short ride yesterday & they worked great. I was able to cruise much easier than with the old set. Today I went on the group ride, but because it was so hot I just put it in cruise mode today & rode my own pace. The hills didn't seem that bad with the new wheels, they still hurt, but it didn't seem to as much as before. They are also much more quiet than my other wheels. Sometimes I wonder if they are even there when I'm freewheeling, that's how quiet they are. I just need to think about getting a 39 tooth chain ring for next season, I'm using a 42 for my small ring, but it is a bit tough on some of the hills around here. I think that if I lose the weight I need to & get that chain ring, I should have no problems climbing next season. That's about all for now, stay tuned.....

It's HOT out there!!!!!!

Boy, I know it's usually hot during August here in Georgia, but this month has been worse than usual. It's been either close to or over 100 degrees most of this month, that's the temp, not the heat index. When you add in the humidity and the other things to make up the heat index, it's been between 105 up to 120 degrees. I don't know about most of you, but for me that's a bit too hot to be outside riding. I've tried that in the past & ended up very dehydrated and sick. I hated feeling that way so until the temps drop down a bit, I guess I'll just be riding the trainer indoors for the time being during the week & getting outside early on the weekends. I hope the temps will drop down a bit here soon, I hate riding the trainer for more than 90 minutes. I do it during the winter, but that's about the limit when the sun is shining outside. I'll keep you updated on things here, keep checking.......