No.wHere

Winter is steadily approaching Seattle. Fall has settled and the temperature is staying low, with rain coming and going as it pleases. Last year I rode in the crap weather quite often. It wasn't very fun or comfortable, although I'm certain I gained some pretty good handling skills and toughness to race in equally poor conditions. The downside is that I was definitely under-dressed and without proper North Western cycling equipment (ie, the rain stuff). I made it a priority to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes I made last year so I've outfitted a vintage Colnago, that Ted (a dear friend and teammate) gave me, with the full fender set up, saddle bag, lights... the obvious stuff. Team sponsors have made some of the most recent investments more attainable than in the past such as a thermal jacket, rain jacket (that fancy Castelli plastic bag), Louis Garneau Power Seal booties, LG gloves warm & warmer, caps and of course, embrocation.

This "off" season I intend to enjoy my time in the saddle regardless if it's 34* and pissing rain or not. I finished my first base period and easily reached my 15 hour goal without any problems. Although Thanksgiving pretty much screwed up the start of my second base period, so I'll have to chalk it up and start fresh again next week. Just the other day Mike reintroduced me to Dan Harm's blog, Chasing After 2012, where I read a bunch of really helpful crap I wasn't ready to come to grips with. You see, he's an Elite racer and I am not. I want to be. I will be. It's just that I have some habits I need to break to allow myself to truly reach my full potential. And perhaps there are a handful of habits I should probably pick up. Someone who has already gone through all of this is exposing the essentials and I aim to use this to my advantage. I am also self-coached, you should know. With all of that being said, once this gorgeous bag of coffee depletes from our kitchen I will begin a 2 week detox that will prohibit the consumption of caffeine and alcohol all while monitoring my caloric intake. I suck at all 3 of those. Wednesday also marked the first day of core and upper body training. I'm pretty out of proportion when I see myself naked. Mostly just great legs, tiny torso and lanky, scrawny arms. Whipping my upper half into shape is painful so far but will pay mad dividends by spring. This detox in conjunction with core workouts should make me faster than I currently am or were. Atleast that's the idea.

I WILL BE A CAT 2 BIKE RACER BY JUNE 2012.

This will happen because when I believe I can do something well, I actually do it well. For example, the week before the Tacoma Twilight Criterium I went on Twitter and said "I am going to win the Tacoma Twilight Crit." A week later this happened. That was my first win. I can certainly do it many times over with the right fitness and confidence. The other racing related strategy I'm going to try out this year is focusing on stage races. These are multi-day events that best simulate those crazy tours you watch on tv like the France one with the yellow jersey and the Italian race with the guy in the pink everyone is chasing all month. It's also a quick way (potentially) to earn upgrade points. I recover pretty quickly so I'm holding out on this idea of racing 3 days in a row and still performing well.

Its 11pm and I really want to ride my bike before I go into work at 9am, so I'm going to leave you here. I just felt compelled to share a few new ideas that have been floating around in my head for the past couple days. Thanks for reading. I'll try to be a little more consistent, if not just for my own sanity in these dark and short NW days.

End Base 1.3 Cycle

Today marks the end of my first Base Training period, thus making next week all about recovery, WOOHOO. May goal was 3 hours today to lock in a 15 hour training week. I did 2.5, cause I slept in. Close enough right? I wanted to see what my body was capable of as I started my training again so I tapered my hourly workouts as follows: Week 1, Base 1.1 = 9 hours Week 2, Base 1.2 = 12 hours Week 3, Base 1.3 = 15 hours Week 4, Base 1.4 = 7 hours I am only doing 3 hour increases for this first period so that I can jump start my fitness. We'll see if it works out for me as I drop it down to 2 hour increases in my upcoming rides. I think all is well with my body, since I've felt fine; no knee pain or abnormal muscle soreness. Also, I went to the doc's to get a full physical with bloodwork to make sure I'm a healthy vegan. Results tomorrow, how exciting. For me atleast. I won't leave you hanging, so here are some more pictures I snapped on my ride this afternoon. Seattle is so beautiful, gah'damn.
Downtown Seattle from the Burke Gilman, Fremont.

Lake Washington Blvd, see the volcano?

Mt. Rainier close up, via Lake Washington

One of my favorite descents in town, Dexter.

Thanks for looking. Off to Ocho to cook tapas all night.

Base Training 1.3

This week is the third week of my "base training" for the 2012 season, which will include 15 hours in the saddle. Since I typically like to make Tuesdays and Thursdays my hard days, I kept it at a "tempo" pace, meaning just pushing the threshold of anaerobic and keeping it there. It was a freezing cold, foggy, yet sunny morning in Seattle with no chance of rain so I decided to ride the Masi. Amazing bike. Nobody was available to ride with me today so I just took my camera with me and did the ever-beautiful South Lake Washington Loop including Mercer Island. From Ballard this took me a little over 3.5 hours. Here's some of flicks. Burke Gilman, U-District

Lake View

Under 1-90 Bridge

Wetlands

U-District is that spec of buildings in the center

Mercer Island, so beautiful

Grassy knoll before leaving MI

Looking North from the back side of the Central District

Burke Gilman trail, Fremont