On another note, I'm feeling well on the bike and have somehow managed to get some good riding in the last few weeks. Base building is the goal so I'm trying to keep the intensity low and the volume high. I've done maybe 2 or 3 tempo workouts with my powertap, which has been good and has produced an interesting set of numbers/personal bests. Being a big fan of CX and mountain biking, I would have expected to have good 5sec, 1 minute, and 5 minute power outputs. To my surprise, my 20 minute and 30 minute are much better than those other shorter intervals. According to some fancy power/kg charts (that are actually probably total BS) I'm supposed to race as a cat 2. Perfect, because that's what Mike Weiss is making me do!
My 2010 cycling plan that I imagined back in December is looking quite different than what I'm thinking now. Being a true Team Seagalian, I was focused on mountain biking and cx only and my bicycle choices reflected that: 2 Kona CX bikes (one with multiple gears and extra road wheels, the other ss) and my sweet Lynskey SS-hardtail). 3 bikes is a good number. The wife didn't think that was too ridiculous and she knew I loved each of the bikes on account of careful part selection, good sale/pro-deal prices, and awesome fits.
Now things are different. That damn vertebral nodule is causing me much trouble. Stupid-ass insurance...sorry, I get pretty worked up about the health care situation in this country. Back to the topic: one of my docs raced bikes for awhile and even the ones who know nothing about bikes have told me that I should keep riding, as hard as I want. The bike-savy doc however suggested a bit more road versus mountain biking because of the bumpiness of mountain biking. Basically the concern is that cancer in bone may lead to weak bone and weak bones lead to broken bones and broken vertebrae (the bones that surround the spinal cord) lead to bad news (I'm getting so good at not cussing anymore now that I'm trying to establish a wider audience for this blog! cus before I would have not said 'bad news' and instead inserted some kind of expletive).
Anyway, the Lynskey has sold on ebay (frame went for more than I paid!!!).
Karma has brought me a sweet, 9-speed dura-ace equipped, Lemond. It is 17.8lbs with these wheels...with some race wheels, probably 17 even.
As for mountain bike, I can't give that stuff up. So, the plan is to take as many precautions as I reasonably can. I spoke to many local experts (thanks matt j, karl, shot, beans, casey ryback, gino, mason storm, justin neely, andy davis, and nico toscani) and have decided to ride a dual suspension 29er. After much debate and consideration for the Fisher and Specialized bikes, Kona had a bike from last year in my size and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. It should be here next week, but I'm going to have to switch a bunch of parts and get weight-weeny with it before she's ready.
So, I'm back to 4 bikes with the following race plan:
Feb 28: Road- Froze Toes, Columbia MO road race
Mar 21: Dogwood Road Race Road Race Bradleyville, MO Road Race
March 28: Mtb-Mesa Lost Valley Luau (marathon)
Apr-10: Hillsboro Roubaix Road Race Road Race Hillsboro, IL
April 18: Mtb Bone Bender 3hr MTB Odyssey. Smithville Lake. Smithville, MO
May 1: Mtb- 50 mile race: Syallmo’s revenge
May 8: Mtb- Greensfelder
May 23:Tour de Ste. Genevieve - MO State Road Race Road Race Ste. Genevieve, MO Road Race
June 12: Mtb Missouri State Championship. Castlewood
June 25-27 MSC #4 Wildflower Rush, Crested Butte, CO
July 4th- Firecracker 50, Brekenridge CO
July 25-31 Ragbrai
3 comments:
"According to some fancy power/kg charts (that are actually probably total BS) I'm supposed to race as a cat 2. Perfect, because that's what Mike Weiss is making me do!"
making?
Well, the powertap thing was a joke (for some reason, you and I must have different senses of humor in blogging) and making= strongly encouraging/telling me he'd sik sweet-pea on me.
I have no delusions of grandeur and know that it'll be hard. But, I'm not in it to win (see good words section) and I'll also race road for CBC with Ethan Froese, Jon Shottler, Dave Henderson, Jonathan Kersha, and I think another few...so it is really just a learning experience for me. And a good one with those teammates! Basically I'll be a support rider.
We'll see what happens!
Well, of COURSE you're going to have higher 20-30min numbers. CX is flat out for an hour, while there may be jumps mixed into that hour, its has a lot to do with holding a high LT. Which is great, but not for racing in STL. There aren't many climbs longer than 5min that will allow you to make a selection. Having high numbers for 1-5min is whats important. Its creating a split and settling into a solid paceline, and of course sprinting ability is vital. Just my $.02
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