No Riding, but Alex is Pitching up a Storm

Great Mechanics!

Well no riding means more time for coaching and having a good time with Alex. Today was opening day, but they have already played 2 games. They are 0-2 with a tie. Our team is made up of kids, with the exception of 2, that have never picked up a baseball before. They have already made some great leaps forward.

Alex has been the only pitcher as of yet. The 7-8 rules are that a pitcher pitches the first and 6th innings, the machine does the rest. So far, Alex has pitched 6 innings with 17 k's 4 walks and only allowed 1 hit. He has yet to allow a run.

Alex is on the left

The league also announce officially the Pitch, Hit and Run winners and Alex was on the podium. He goes to the regionals on the 19th to play against other kids in the area. If he wins this, he will play at Camden yards!

Today they played to a 0-0 tie. Alex's hitting is doing ok. He is 2-6 so far, but he will get his in time. He has travel team practice tomorrow and is looking forward to a great day.

I am so proud of him. What makes him so special is that he allows me to coach him. I can tell him how to fix something I see in his swing or pitching and he is receptive, as are all of the kids on the team. He is just a super kid. He is a natural and reminds me so much of myself. He is a go getter and when he does something, he does it 150%.

Tales of a Sit at Home and Play Stupid Video Games Moron

Yes, this is what I have been reduced to; mindless, pointless ways of staying out of trouble. I was looking through the archives of my old computer stuff-yes I am a Mac collector of sorts as well. I came across Diablo II. I am not a gamer by any stretch, but I like to take a few minutes here and there to let loose.

If any of you know the game Diablo, it is a game that is about 12 years old, so old that I had to download a port to get it to play on my current system. It is one of those games that you used to make fun of the kids in college sitting around a table for the entire semester saying things like "The Wemic picks up the unconscious wizard." or " I totally took your elf at stage 4 with a hand ax and enough stamina to take 3 hits points from you.". No, I never played, I had to search for these. I often wondered if they were even students, or just used the lounge area to stage there "brutal" tactics. Anyway, it is a game that over time-in this case 12 years-you build a character up to eventually defeat Diablo. Funny thing is, when you havent played something in a few years, you forget what the heck is happening. I am pushing buttons that arent doing anything and not pushing enough to make something happen! I am getting zapped by the wizards and flamed by the dragons and I have no idea what those goofy little dart blowing fools are either. Ok, calm down, no strenuous activity.

 I often forget how gorgeous the graphics were for the time, the screenshot does no justice. Yeah, I am a graphics man too.

Alright, this is the last one of these. I cant believe I am even posting this. This is what bored cyclist do that cant do anything for a week.

From Rabdo to Appendicitis...whats next?

Well I thought having Rabdo was going to be a short lived set back...and it was. I was riding easy and looking forward to Iron Hill next week. Wednesday I starting getting some side cramps, thought maybe it was the junk in my bloodstream exiting and leaving my body, so though I was in pain I just went with it.

Friday came and it was much worse; to the point where standing was painful. I decided to call my wife at work and she was concerned and said to leave work and get my mother in law to take mr back to the ER to see what was going on.

We arrived at 4:00 and went through the whole onslaught of questions as usual. So, I had 2 IV's in me and the doctor saying it sounds like either a burst appendix or a kidney issue-neither of which are a good thing. So around 7:30, after a few CT scans the doctor came back with the news of an immediate appendectomy...OH JOY! So off to the OR I went for surgery. Remember your mom telling you about having clean undies on, cause you will never know what happens? Well I was goin commando! I have never had surgery before, so this was all new to me. I was worried, of course. It was an hour procedure, so I was out around 10:30pm and I remember nothing, absolutely nothing. When you are out, you are out. So I awoke with this immense pain from my boughs and thought they had taken the wrong organ out or something. I couldnt stand, it hurt to urinate, talk, cough...anything. Of course the first thing out of my mouth was-how long before I can get back on the bike. They found it funny, somehow it wasnt meant to be funny on my end.

I was in the hospital until 6pm yesterday and was told that I can do nothing...absolutely nothing for at least 7 days. That is a lifetime for anyone who rides and especially in the middle of training. Worst news I could hear. So, this next week is going to be extremely difficult both not being able to ride and doing nothing around the house to help. The pain in myside is down from yesterday, but wow, you dont realize what muscles you use just to walk and sit until those muscle arent available any more, at least for a while.

Saturday did have an up note though. Alex made the travel team. I really am upset that I wasnt able to be there to see it, but he is also playing with the 9-10's as well, so that makes it even more of an accomplishment. Great job son!

Recovery Stinks! Alex is Movin and Groovin

Well, I have been told that Rabdo is a serious issue and I have been taking it very easy. I have tried to sneak a few easy road rides in here and there, it was my easy week anyway, so I got lucky in a weird sort of way. Kind of like a Rube Goldberg machine. I could have had a nicer recovery week without "having" to recover.

I have elected to do active recovery in leu of static. Even getting on the trainer just to keep the legs limber. I am not one to easily sit and do nothing.

The classic Ted Williams swing baby!

On a different note. Today Alex had his Pitch Hit and Run competition for baseball. Now Alex, who is a lot like me (poor kid) is blessed with being able to pick up a sport and run with it. He has never played baseball; although I myself dabbled in the 4 base arts for 20 years, he is showing true talent.

Today he won the hitting portion of the contest which allows him to qualify for the regionals in his 7-8 age group. He was 2nd in the run and 2nd in the pitching portion. He was also approached by the travel team coach and was asked if he would like to play for them. In typical Alex fashion with a soft "ok". Me? I was whoopin it up! I played travel league ball and this was awesome right son? "What is travel team?" This where you hear the cartoon sound when they shake their heads really fast eyeeyeeyee.

Nolan Ryan protégé

So we wait to find out what happens. Alex has also been chosen as opening day pitcher. Hopefully he can throw his 47mph heater where it needs to be.

A Trip to the ER

Well, since Bakers, I have had bouts of dizziness and feeling really weak. The weak part is normal after a long day in the saddle, but the dizziness and fainting episodes are not. So my wife, who is a nurse demanded I go to the Docs who proceeded to have me go to the ER. Well 5 hours, I cat scan and MRI later, I was told I had a concussion and a case of...ready for this term?


Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream. Myoglobin is harmful to the kidney and often causes kidney damage. 


The thought of pieces of muscle running hand and hand with my whites ans reds doesnt sound pleasent. Lucky for me, mine was mild. It releases an agent (Creatine phosphokinase (CK) is an enzyme found mainly in the heart, brain, and skeletal muscle.) into the bloodstream which causes those symptoms. I thought I had a little Calvin Klein in me! This occurs in athletes in endurance events and the only cure is rest (hmmm...) and plenty of fluids. So, all is well and lookin to get back to ridin' hard. All told, I would have finished the race exactly the way I did; only if by stretcher would I have not. Oh, and new xrays came back negative on rib fractures, so just a chest wall muscle sprain. Over and out!

Bakers Dozen and a Solid 3rd Spot aka Old Guys Rock!

Outfit #1

Bakers is always an adventure. Could be warm, could be cold, could be windy and cold, could be windy wet and cold...etc. This year was about as close to perfect as possible. 75° temps, dry, albeit maybe too dry, but dry none the less. I always wonder if I should camp out or just drive down in the am. So far drive down is winning. The whole family-1 is part of the crew. So 5:45 we get up get stuff packed and go.

This year, I teamed up with fellow SSer Blake Bricker. I met Blake a few years back at some of the local racers, but just left it at that. Last year we talked a bit more and decided that we would do Bakers as a male duo, only because we are males and cannot ride in the female duo-stupid rules. We could have done the geezer group, but whats the fun in that? 2 44 year old men givin it to the youngins-so against the youngins we go. Blake is always right there in the top, so it was a great match up; plus we are both old, but he has better hair than me-I hate him for that!

Outfit #2-Yes that is a geared bike!

So, Blake went out first and pulled in some great times. We decided before hand to do double laps at 16.6 miles for 2 laps-instead of the usual one on and one off deal. I went out and pulled in some fast times as well, only my 3rd lap was a bit more exciting. I still dont know what happened, but I am typing this out with a man girdle around my mid section due to my high speed impact with mother earth. It hurts like !@$#. Doc says ribs may be cracked but hard to tell from the xrays. Might be? So he is being cautious and making me wear the girdle. Anyway, we continued on through out the day meandering between 3rd and 4th. Still feeling pretty good at this point, but my 7th lap was dismal; felt faint and ill, somehow still managed a good lap time. I sat down, had 4 slices of pizza, 2 sodas and was back to normal. I rode the Superfly HT for my 8th lap to help get back to SS state.

Lap 16... almost home

At this point it was time for some night riding. The dry conditions made for some pretty insane and somewhat dangerous conditions, especially if there was someone ahead of you kicking up dirt. Like opening your eyes underwater at the waste treatment plant-dont ask. We had 19 laps at this point, I knew we good for top 5, so I didnt go out for the 20th-main reason was that the scoring booth had not been working for a while and it was hard to tell what was going on. It is at this time-the final hour or so that strategies start playing out. You have to be in by 9:59:59 to do a final lap, if not you are done. Results were emailed today and we ended up in 3rd by 6 minutes...whew. I ended up with a 32/17 setup for the SS's and 42 x 11/21 Dura Ace cassette for the geared bike.

Blake was super fun to race with-though we only saw each other briefly. He is a great competitor and a new found friend as well. Hopefully we will get to team up for some other events. Sandie is Blakes SS partner in crime and ended up in 4th place in the female solo cat. Both are just super fun to hang with. 

All in all, it was blast. The course as always is very technical and fast. It always beats me up, but I love it. Training has been a huge plus this year and really could see a difference in my endurance side. I ended up with 72 miles and almost 6 hours of dusty, dry and wonderful miles, Looking forward to next year already. Thanks again Blake! Eh, he's to smart to read this crap.

Someone else gets to ride Pinky

Yes, it is true. My friend and Adventures for the Cure teammate Jon Houghton will be riding my beloved Pinky on the morrow at Bakers on his 3 man team. He found a crack in his Kona tonight and now must face his demons-being comfortable with his masculinity! I will get some photos for sure if our laps allow. Go get em' Manly Man!

One Fine Day at Little G

Thursday was one of those days that just happens. You get up, knowing you have an all day race on saturday and going out and lettin' loose. I started out just figuring on doing a nice 20 miler on the SS and when I pulled up to the parking lot, my whole game plan had changed. I was going to hammer, not full on, but I was going to just go. I have been riding a 32/17 set up as of late, which is not the smartest choice for someone trying to save their 44 year old knees from the inevitable crushing affects of riding the rigid beast, but it has been working... at least for now. I also have seen something a little weird as well. At first I thought my hr strap is on the fritz, but 3 rides have confirmed my max hr is 207, not 200. Anyway, here is the screenshot from that ride. I think my new favorite color is yellow, yeah...I like it.

Nice Bakers Dozen Pre Ride

Today we headed down to Leesburg to get some mileage in for the race this weekend. We ended up doing 4 laps and 32 miles. The course is way fast and technical. I averaged 12.3 mph and lap times were 38 minutes for 8.1 miles. This course has a few sections that will challenge your upper body strength for sure. Lots of roots and pock marked earth. The race is held on a farm, so much of the trail are cow paths which doesnt make for smooth terrain. There isnt a lot of climbing, but what climbs there is are technical, rocky and tight. I have yet to decide whether or not to ride a geared thing or gear down to a 32/16 for the ss. I rode the superfly ss toady with the Niner carbon fork and boy did the course beat the crap out of me. I may decide to ride the Ferrous, which was the bike I primarily road at last years race. I still have the double bouncy thing a ma bob that may get a shot as well. Only my body can let me know for sure.

It has also been a great week on the mtb. 136 miles out of 187 thus far. Thus far, pretty funny. 50 PR's, KOM's and other accolades on Strava. It is also the first week in probably a year that I rode the mountain bike that much.

Hill Repeats...my new secret weapon?

Now I know getting older can make you a little loopy at times; ok alot. I know that riding the SS requires a different set of muscles than if you are spinning on the geared bike, so why do those of us who choose the monocog pain machine train as if we are ridin' the ole' clanker? Now, clearly I have no idea what I am talking about, but I feel if you are reading this, maybe, just maybe you think I do. It is no secret that you are grinding and sawing away out of the saddle, so this requires a completely different focal point in your training regimen. Now, you certainly cant neglect other areas of training, especially the endurance aspect and toss in a few threshold tempo rides, but I really think that we get caught up in how others train for sitting and spinning, while we should focus more on standing and mashing.

I have been doing quite a bit of hill repeats this year; actually, I am doing hill repeats for the first time this year. They have been ranging from 1 mile 4% grinders, to shorter 1/4 mile 8-12%, 50 rpm quad killers. I have been doing these twice a week for the last month. What I have found is-no duh, right-is not only has my climbing improved, but I am doing it with more power and more with more economy. On the mountain bike, I feel as if I have this extra kick when I really need it. Not only that, but I am maintaining that power through the climb, not just to the top. My HR has yet to get into the 190's, in fact 186 has been the norm. Here are a few to try if you dare to push yourself beyond the pain cave.

Option (1) On a 1 mile slope of 4% on the road bike in gearing that allows for cadence between 70-80-I use a 53/17. 2(3x2) with 5 minutes in between sets. You want shorter rest times in between reps to give your muscles just enough time NOT to recover fully.

Option (2) On a 1/4 mile slope of 8-12%, again on the road bike, but cadence should be 50-60. Again, I will use a 53/21 or 53/19. 5x1, i minute on 1 minute off. These hurt, but I guarantee that these will make you a stronger, more efficient climber. If it doesnt, you should probably just grab a bag of chips and find a nice comfy spot on the couch and pick lint out of your belly.

Strava-Good or Bad Thing?

Right out da gate...Strava is a very cool site for GPSers. It keeps track of everything, some glitches here and there, but good none the less. Here is what I dont like; the fact that it exists. You are a complete idiot-that is, you the reader responding to my comment. Let me explain why. If you are training, Strava can, if you let it, sway you from your initial plan. Strava keeps track of KOM's (King of the Mountain). This is a very cool feature, problem is if you are KOM, someone will eventually beat you. Now, if you have incredible resilience to having the immediate urge to suddenly awake at 3am in the nude due to images of a 3 year old on a tricycle ripping you a new one on your favorite climb to go out and hammer that section and reclaim your KOM, you are stronger than me. It is very easy to get caught up in the hoopla, I myself have done that, especially if you worked hard to earn it. So I am making a conscious effort to be more in tune with sticking to my training plan and hopefully stick to it.

Ouch!

Today was the first 50 miler in a month. After last weeks balls to the wall hammerfest, I think my body is saying-"Slow down Pops, give me a break, ok?" Overall, it wasnt a bad ride-18.8 mph avg over 50 miles with 2k of elevation, but not the best. It was just too nice of a day to let it go.

Here is a comparison from last year at this point; huge difference.

2011

2012

Got a few races coming up in april-Bakers Dozen and Fairhill, both of which I have had great success racing, including a 1st place at Fairhill and a near bout with a 1st place in the SS solo class at Bakers Dozen. I will be doing a duo with my friend Blake Bricker this year at Bakers, so we should have a great showing. I am looking to take another win at Fairhill as well, we will see if it is the cards this year. If taking 8:37 off of my Sugar Hill time is any indication, it looks to be a possibility. Anyway, go ride your bike and as always, you aint a moron if you aint goin gearless.

Trek Mountain Co-Op

Yep, I have been adorned with the colors of the Trek Co-Op Mountain Team. My friend and rep Jon Rogers brought me some goodies today at the shop, including the lovely and fast Bontrager Rhythm Pro Scandium Wheelset, RXL Bar, R# tires for the roadie side of me and of course the new kit.

So Now I am riding for The Trek Adventures for the Cure Bike Doctor team. WooHoo!

Another Solid Day on the Road

Man, if you would have told me last year that I would be putting in back to back days at 20+ mph avg. and a 11.6 mph, 20 mile mtb ride 3 days after a tough race; I would have said there is no way that I could put in back to back days at 20+ mph avg.  and a 11.6 mph, 20 mile mtb ride 3 days after a tough race. The last few days I feel amazing. My HR is staying low and I am crushing my previous times. Today I did my usual BWI loop A1 before work ride and turned in a 20.4 mph average with some crazy strong uphill sprints to boot. My HR is the biggest surprise of all. I am becoming more economical with how my energy is being used. Last year, some of these climbing sprints would have resulted in HR easily in the mid 195 range. My power would have greatly decreased by the end as well. Not only did I get faster as I neared the top, but was able to sustain that power. Todays ride I tried something a little different; I did all of my climbs seated and using 53x15 gearing. Normally I would stand and power up the climbs. So now starts more intense work along with some hill repeats as well. Now, if you are new to monocogging, at least what I am coming to find is, your training better be geared towards doing hill repeats and do em' strong! You still have to do your other stuff, but hill repeats should be a mainstay. Do them on the road bike if you can. It allows for longer, more sustained hard efforts without worrying about terrain. I promise you will get stronger. Hey, if an old 44 year old dad of 3 can do it, no excuse for you!

Getting old doesnt mean being old

We dont need no stinkin Geritol!

Yeah, 44 isnt Rosetta Stone material, but in the cycling world, it isnt considered youth either. I am happy to tell all of you mid-death aged riders, gettin old doesnt mean you have to give in. I get tired of hearing guys 10 years younger than me come up with every excuse in the book as to why they are slow-thats BECAUSE YOU SAY YOUR TOO OLD!!!! KNOCK IT OFF! I hear it all of the time. You arent too old, your too complacent! Just get on the bike and ride! I know at some point, I will succumb to the reality that my body wont allow me to go faster, but start to decline...not anytime soon I hope. I feel the best I have ever been in my life right now. Sure, some improvements can be made, but I dont have 15-20 hours a week to make that happen. I work with what I have and try to maximize the time I have on the bike to its fullest. 

This year has shown a huge improvement over last year so far. I knocked 8:32 off of my race time from last years AFC sufferfest and still felt ok at the end. I would have never been able to go out and hammer like I did sunday for 20 miles on the SS and turn around a do my M2 tempo ride at a 20.7 avg speed...never. I am training smarter, but still having fun riding. I think most people go out and train everyday; thats ok I guess, but you lose the most important part of cycling-riding with friends. I know you know the type-Nah, I am doing 37 hill repeats and going home to drink some protein shake. Or-I am going out for a "casual" ride today; it ends up being a day you wish you stayed in bed.

All I am saying is, if you want to get faster, then you better make sure you ride with faster people and figure on training. If you want to ride and have fun, do that too. Whatever you do, dont ever say your too old to race, ride or whatever. I can and others my age and older still give it to the younger guys and it feels pretty good; in fact, look at results sometime, especially in the SS cat. Youre gonna find that most of the faster guys are in their 40's baby. We aint goin away anytime soon either!

AFC Sugar Hill and a great 4th place finish

At least I am very color coordinated

I love to hate this race-lets just get that out in the open. I love it, but I get so worked up before hand that it really throws me off a bit. I have "slimmed" down to 183lbs., I guess that is as slim as I'm gettin folks. This years cast of monocogging characters was, I would say the best one so far. 31 starters and all of them fast, fast fast. Teammates Adam Driscoll, Jonathon Houghton and Blake Bricker (who I will be doing Bakers with) along with Bernie Shiao along with some fast youngins as well rounded out this years group. I think what I get so nervous about are the "unknowns", Now I dont mean that in a derogatory manner, but just the guys you dont know that could throw a wrench in your cog.

I decided to run a 32/19 on the Superfly SS, which incidentally is the first time racing it at Patapsco. I ran a 32/18 on wednesday, but it felt a bit hard on my 44 year old bod. I made a good choice. The flats were a bit hoppy, but the climbs were ever so slightly easier? It was also the first race on the Niner rigid carbon fork. 4 words Very Fast Very Stiff. Yep, the rock gardens were a bit rough, but it is super accurate. No flex at all, so on the climbs, it was beautiful, just beautiful man. The bike weighs in at 18lbs even now, but doesnt feel frail at all.

Anyway, this years goal was, as usual to shave some time from last years time. Wednesday pre-ride without a 3 mile section timed in at 2:04. Today I ended up with a 2:02:47 with the additional 3 miles! That was 8 minutes faster than last years time. So the training seems to be working. I held 2nd for 2:00:01 of the race and then it hit-the thigh burn was just too great and Jonathon Houghton passes me a mile or so from the end. I was able to stick with him, but couldnt get by. He did beat me by 2 minutes-33 seconds last year. This year only 9 seconds separated us. AAAAAHHH! I ended up 4th, which was 1 down from last years results, but this was my best race there so far. Eight minutes off and a strong finish-so I am very satisfied with my placement.

On a somewhat interesting note; my HR only got to 187 for a max, and my average was 171. My max HR is 200 so I am assuming that my training program is allowing me to be a bit more economical in regards to power output. Or I just didnt try hard enough. Normally I would hit in the high 190's and my average would be my LTHR-178. So 8 minutes faster with less effort-that's what Im talkin bout! It surely took a toll on my body, but climbing Ridge 3x's will do that.

Anyway, it was good seeing Blake and Sandie-who raced SS female and did great, both of whom are great people and riders to boot! So next year, sub 2:00?


Adam finished 1st, Jonathon 3rd and me 4th in the SS class. Chris and Auggie finished 6th and 7th in the sport class with a sprint to the finish. Pat finished 4th in the gear head division so it was a great day overall for the AFC TEAM!

AFC Sugar Hill Pre Ride Race Pace-ish

Man, what a great day. 72°, 99% of the trails are dry and clear trails. Today I decided to go out and kill myself with a 27 miles pre ride race pace-ish SS jaunt through Patapsco. Now mind you, I didnt set out to do 3 laps today; it was one of those things that you decide on the spur of the moment, er uh spontaneous.

First lap was rather dismal, the waterbar climbs killed me for the 1st half of the loop. I had limited power and almost named the ride-the vomit comet; yeah, real close to it. The second lap was much, much better. I turned in my fastest loop time at 38:21, last year my fastest was 40:38-so looking ok. Came to the end of the 2nd lap and was going to cut it short half way through the 3rd lap, but for some odd reason, I went on. 3 times up Ridge is not something I look forward to at all. In fact, I felt pretty blah on all 3 attempts. I finish the ride feeling pretty depleated, although satisfied. I think being on the road bike so much this year has put a damper on my mtb climbing efforts, but still time to overcome that.

Last year, my time was 2:10 for the race, today's time-although not a race (which is usually a slower time anyway) was 2:01:34-almost 9 minutes faster than last year. I would like to think that I can duplicate that effort saturday; we'll see. Ridge will certainly be the deciding factor for sure.

Feelin pretty rough today

Today was the first Bike Doctor Shop/AFC team ride in a while for me, and man was it a winner. Quick run down. Drive 35 minutes and get ready. Adam, Pat, Bruce and Jon-along with 20 others-had a nice warm up ride from the park and ride to the shop. Lets start off at a 22 mph pace for 10 miles ! OUch. The wind was brutal and I wasnt feeling all that great trying to maintain that insane pace. I struggled, but kept within 10 seconds of the immortals. We finally settle down after a pretty nasty crash in the group. Everybody was good-albeit the bikes were a little bad off. The pace "slowed" to a 18.6 mph pace-whew...glad for that break! I ended up doing 40 miles overall and legs are feeling pretty rough. Gotta take it a little easy for Sugar Hill this week. Over and out!

The Little Kangaroos move to 5-1-1

These guys deserve a huge round of applause. To see how 6 7 and 8 year olds have grown as a team and progressed to become the "powerhouse" team-can you say that for a kids team? Heck yes! They won by a landslide over the second place team 38-26. They are now 1 game ahead in first place. Alex scored 14 pts, 6 rebounds,7 assists and 6 steals. The points were spread out a little more as the kids worked on setting up defense and passing the ball more. Alex loves to pass, but the kids on the team love to pass it back to him to shoot. Anyway, Alex has 94 pts on the year in 7 games for a 13.4 ppg avg. In his first season last year-which was a rugby league at best-he made just 4 baskets. He has really shown that this is his game. Come on son, dont you want to ride?

Great Ride on the Road

Nice Numbers

Yesterday was one of those days that you want to ride because the sun has fooled you into thinking that yes, it is 65° but he doesnt tell you that Mr. Wind has a surprise up his sleeve...Senior Gust. Now going into this ride, which is a tempo day, I had pretty much figured that it was going to be a struggle just to maintain 18mph. Of course living on the water makes the wind even more of an issue. So I get through my usual 10 mile starting loop at a 20 pace. Hmmm, ok it will change when I hit some of the climbs and the wind. 30 miles in and I am still at 20. The best part is that I feel like Super Man at this point. Even with the 20mph head winds, I am not feeling the burn at all, in fact my HR is hovering around 80% (160bpm). The real test was on the way back west on Pulaski Hwy, the head winds are at their worst. It always seems to blow the same direction every time I ride. Well, I still managed to hang around the 19mph clip, and feeling good. I know the avg speed had dropped at this point, but I still had some climbs to go and 10 miles. I hit Eastern ave and tucked and rolled. I got home and was pleased to find that after 52 miles, my average speed was at 20 exactly. Now, what I havent mentioned yet is the that during the ride, the only info displayed on my GArmin was %HR and HR zone-no speed, time, avg speed, etc. Maybe the key to riding a little faster is less info for the brain to fool you with.

So, I feel much stronger than last year at this time. The same loop in february of last year with less wind yielded a 19.4 average. Hopefully this will transfer the same results for the race season.