The Week in Review

Sorry it has been so long since posting but life has been pretty busy. Week before last I was flying quite a bit and last week I held a very busy bike camp here in Mesa.

Only Neal Blatt came out for a week of training but I hope to see more of you next time. If you want some personal testimony about the epic riding that took place talk to him. We put in over 25 hours of riding over intense climbs, brutal intervals, great food and incredible views.

Day 1, Sunday, we warmed up with a 1.5 hour ride around the Usery’s and up Usery pass. Day 2, Monday, we completed a 2.0 hour morning workout on Usery Pass, (Neal did 12 minute base LT efforts while I did 4 minute VO2max efforts), followed by lunch and light weightlifting. We rode a 2.0 hour endurance ride to Saguaro Lake in the afternoon.

Day 2 we rode from my home to Tortilla Flat and beyond to the end of pavement on the Apache trail. This was an incredible day as we had to battle stiff easterly winds for most of the ride out. The vistas are beautiful but the tourist density was way higher than I have ever seen it. Once you get into the mountainous area the climbing is of a switchback nature. We paused for a Kodak moment at the Canyon Lake overlook before gliding down to the lakeshore. Just a couple more climbs saw us descending into Tortilla Flat. Neal wasn’t hungry yet so we pressed on up the “Microwave” hill for another 50 minutes before reaching the end of pavement. The road just beyond Tortilla was flooded to about 3 inches. The rains are turning the wash there into a river and there was man panning for gold. He told us he had even found a few flakes. Neal’s Garmin reported the Microwave to be 5%-7% for about 3.5 miles. Once we made it up this it was easy switch backs to the end. After turning around we took guesses on how long it would take to get to Tortilla. I guessed 10 minutes. I pointed my bike downhill, recorded 47.4 mph on the Microwave and made it down in about 12 minutes.

The restaurant was so jammed with tourists I couldn’t see waiting so we rode over to the marina where we were seated in less than twenty minutes.

After lunch we climbed out of the there and returned to Mesa for a 4.5 hour volume and lots of great memories.

On Day3, we drove up to Cave Creek to ride out to Bartlett lake. We climbed about 1,000 feet to get to Bartlett Lake Rd which got us to 3200 feet. Down we went 600 feet in 3 miles before oscillating up and down for about 4 miles before descending from 3200 feet down to 1800 feet over 5 miles to reach the lake. From here we began interval work performing 12 minute LT efforts. Neal at 95% of FTP and myself at 100%, (Neal is still in base while I am in build training). We rode up that five mile hill for twelve minutes than returned to the bottom for another. After three I realized I was going to need water before returning to Cave Creek so we took a break and bought a bottle or two from the convenience store, (trailer), at the lake. The plan from here was to do intervals until we climbed up that long hill. I planned on two for myself and it almost worked out. As I was coming to the end of my second effort the hill changed to a descent for almost a mile before once again turning into a longish climb. I extended my interval to 15 minutes trying to put an end to all this. Fifteen didn’t do the trick but I had had enough and ended the interval workout. When I reviewed my power profile it revealed that I had completed an additional 12 minute interval on the way out to the lake completely by accident. I was simply trying to ride hard and managed a serendipitous twelve minute interval at a perfect 292 watts!

For me, this was the hardest ride of the week. We clocked in at three hours and forty minutes scoring 255 TSS points, 6,000 feet of climbing and a very sore taint.

On Day 4 we scaled back intensity and rode easy out to Fountain hills and back making a lunch stop at DJ’s. By this point the week’s volume had caused a saddle sore flare up making the last hour or so of the four hour ride pretty rough.

Day 5 we drove to Tucson and Neal soloed up Mt. Lemmon. I spent the day with Maria touring the University of Arizona. She auditioned for their theater program which is very competitive admitting only 12 freshmen each fall. Neal reported an epic ride climbing for over 20 miles to Summerhaven where he lunched on pizza.

Day 6 was race day but since it was Neal’s last day we got up early and rode for an hour and forty minutes. We kept things on the lighter side just enjoying the morning. We were graced to see a group of wild horses, (Red Mountain Brumby’s), crossing the road in front of us. We stopped to take it in and it struck me what a privilege it is to live where I do. Just an ordinary ride and I take in beautiful vistas and wild horses! Amazing!

The race was the Sun Devil Criterium which is an office job very much like the Allen Park Crit course with good pavement. James raced the 3’s and the Jr’s back to back. What a stud! He hung on to get a top 15 finish in the 3’s which was very gratifying for both of us. He got shucked off the back at Tucson a couple of weeks ago so riding well was a big confidence booster. Immediately after he jumped into the Jr race and did amazingly well considering he had ridden a 50 minute crit just minutes before. My goal was to sit in the pro/1/2 race. When I signed in I noticed I was the oldest rider in the field and immediately began to wonder what the heck I was getting into. It really stuck out to…21, 23, 33, 19…then, Darrell Anderson 48. Not only that but there were several pro’s signed up for the race. I saw at least one Kenda team member, some Oakley guys, (they had their crazy semi pick up truck with them), plus Chris Aten and his herd of Bike Haus riders. Eric Mercott was there with his body builder legs. Sal S________, (can’t remember Sal’s last name…he is going to Belgium to join his team shortly). You get the idea. My whole thing was to survive this without a humiliating DNF.

There was an acceleration early on that made me think I was in trouble. Someone was drilling it at the front and I was up over 500 watts trying to stay on. If this kept up I was toast! Thankfully, it was the only one of these and the race settled into a back and forth rhythm as attacks were made without success. The thing with this field was that they went really hard then went ridiculously slow with the pulse of attack and catch. After about forty minutes I realized I was feeling strong and fresh; that familiar feeling from the past when you sense that the riders around you are wearing down. This shocked me greatly but I was still not willing to race. I wouldn’t call what I was doing racing. Racing means you are attacking, chasing and being a player. What I was doing was almost like sitting on the sidelines and watching. I’m not proud of this but even at this point in the race I was concerned there was some surprise that was going to drop me off the back in the last twenty minutes.

In the end I had poor position on the last turn, a rider caught his pedal and went down in front of me and it was really over. Mercott won his 5th race of the season and I settled for a pack finish. Chris Aten just missed the podium in 4th place. Not bad for a guy who says he can’t sprint!

It was obvious to me that I had way over estimated the effort level required to race this thing. This was just one race and next time it might be totally different but it was far from the hardest crit I have raced. I guessed a normalized power of 260-270 watts but I even overestimated that as it showed a measly 255 watts and a TSS of 75 points.

Jean, Neal and the kids congratulated me on finishing. It felt good initially but after looking at the file and reflecting I have to say I did not race even close to my potential. Even at my lofty age, it seems like I can open gaps and accelerate at an above average level. Just to check I would glance back occasionally to see what my acceleration had done and could see a descent gap. My max power for the day was just shy of 1200 watts and this wasn’t the finishing sprint. In a practice race earlier in the season I managed just shy of 1400 watts in an attack so even in that respect I was racing below my potential. So, I have to say I am content that I met my goal but disappointed that I didn’t make any adjustments and summon the courage to gamble a little more. I will certainly race differently next time.