So, as of today, I haven't raced my bike since last September so I don't have any race reports. I could tell you of countless hours spent suffering wildly on the trainer but how would that enrich your day? Testing, coaching, etc, is going well. I am seeing good progress and that is gratifying. My stable of athletes is not full but it is close. I could probably handle another 2 without having to quit my day-job.
Here's a snapshot of my home this evening. My lovely wife is cooking dinner while I carve out a few minutes to try and make your lives worth living. (That's a joke Doug.)She is making Chinese food tonight. James = not happy.
I have been working on coaching and work projects when not playing chauffeur.
If you don't live here in Michigan, we had the most
bizarre weather the last 24 hours. It was 48 degrees last night and this morning it was 8 degrees. You don't need to be a meteorologist to know that kind of swing will result in crazy winds and precipitation. Not much in the way of outdoor riding going on.On a more serious note, I was reading bicycling mag and they had an article on car-bike accidents. The more I ride the more I am bothered by the number of close calls I've had. It seems it is easier to number the rides that are uneventful than the ones where a motorist, (usually someone in a pickup truck), cuts it too close. It seems to me that we have to each go on sort of a risk management program. Even this won't help if a drunk driver is bearing down on you. At the same time there are some no-brainer things you could do to avoid accidents. First, avoid riding in cities. Parking lot exits, intersections and parked cars are all hi risk factors for us. My plan has been to avoid riding at rush hour. That alone is huge. The next thing is to know where the gravel quarries are and avoid the routes to and from them like the plague. Country roads like Parker and Pleasant Lake are not only truck routes but have lots of traffic that moves very, very fast. Getting from Saline to HRD, I have to go through AA but I have found traveling off rush hours keeps the risk down. I do get concerned about cars pulling out on 7th at times. I am rolling downhill for large stretches of this commute and I get more than a little nervous about someone pulling out in front of me. Thinking it out a bit more, training in the morning can reduce chances of an encounter with a drunk driver. It is all about managing risk. There are times when you will end up plowing through rush hour but if you keep the number of times you do this down you will also keep your annual risk exposure down. Another obvious risk management suggestion is to obey all traffic laws. I have been stunned in the past when other riders have passed a line of cars stopped at a red light instead of getting in line with them. This doesn't help our cause. Running lights and stop signs will obviously increase risk.
Reading blogs, I have noticed a pattern regarding their training. When asked about their strengths and weaknesses they reveal their strength lies in the way they train. Those who don't have a regimented training plan but just go out and ride their bike usually end up riding tempo and are fairly good road racers and perhaps descent time trialists but they complain they just don't have a good sprint and have difficulty gaining separation. Perhaps they could have more snap in their legs if they decided to train their weakness instead of ignoring it. We all love to ride fast so we love to ride tempo when we are out for a training ride but when was the last time you performed shorter VO2max intervals in the middle of a glorious summer day's ride? I hope to take advantage of other racers who train like that in the coming season. My athletes will likewise attempt to prey upon these. Beware. We may not be as gifted but we may just be able to out-train and out-discipline many. Even at the ripe old age of 45.
