It's Friday!

Yay! It's finally Friday! It has been one hellacious week this week. A bit of riding this week, though I tried to keep it on the easy side since my calf is sore and I have the new bike set-up going on.

Monday was VO2max intervals. 4x3min w/ 5min rest. Mentor is dropping the rest time down on me! Felt pretty good doing them even though I didn't eat hardly anything all day long. They were ok, though the mentor says they were good. Cadence wasn't where it should've been, but whatever. 209/100, 200/85, 192/100, 197/100, and 188/96. The last one was a 'just for the hell of it' one, because when I finished the 4th one, wasn't really sure that I felt like doing another one...

Tuesday no riding.

Wednesday was just a zone 2 easy ride that turned a bit hard the last half. The first 15mi I had a really nice tail wind from the Grocery Bag all the way to Cletus' little store at Shoeheel. 20mph avg! W00t! Wish I could do that all the time. The last half then, of course, was into the wind. That sucked big time. 1:40 ride time.

Thursday was my son's birthday, he is now 17yo. After doing the birthday thing with him, I hung around the house a bit, but just couldn't stand it...it was like 70 something outside so I just had to go for a short ride. Another zone 2 ride and really short because I started so late (6:30pm). Only 10 miles, but I worked on keeping my cadence above 95 (97avg). Did one PowerStart for 718w.

And, now here we are at Friday! I'm thinking about going out to the Bypass and doing some VO2max intervals again. With the new bike set-up, I'm interested in seeing if those numbers (or any interval number, i.e. zone 4) will be slightly higher since I will be able to incorporate more quads into the pedal stroke.

Tomorrow's plan is for something around 52-62 miles riding from the Grocery Bag....

Oh yea...I think I'm going to go and do the Crowder's Mountain Metric ride on 04/13 since I don't think I can do Tour de Cashiers at this time.

New Set-up

Yesterday, I brought my bike with me to work with the plan being to change out the stem & seatpost during lunch, then ride after work/PT. Got the 'before' measurements then put the 'new' stuff on. Seatpost looks nice, even though it's silver instead of black. Stem looks good too. But, I have a problem....I can't get the damn front end from having movement fore/aft after tightening the compression plug then the stem bolts. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I followed two different sets of instructions (Park Tool site & friend) and I just can't get it right.

I guess when I do get this fixed, I should try to have a bit of control and not do rides that are too long or hard....new set-up could take a little bit of time to become adjusted to and I need to be careful and not get hurt. Yea, Yea, Yea, I know...I'm already slightly hurt. But, the hurt I have now is not really the same as what I had last May. This hurt is sore hamstrings/calf from the recent adjustments. If I didn't get hurt riding the Ring of Fire, then I can't see how riding Burningtown caused me to get hurt.

So, that inability to get the front end from wiggling and not riding put me in a pissy mood yesterday...farkin' beautiful day and I didn't get to ride. Damnit. And, now, today, it's going to be something like 72F here. I'm going to take it up to the Trek store at lunch and see if Matt can fix it and/or show me what I am doing wrong. I hope there's not something messed up....knowing the kind of luck I have though, I've probably messed something up. I really need to get out and ride...the stress is bringing me down big time now.

I'm about to the point where I can not deal with this shit anymore. Some people know what I'm talking about....something has got to change and soon. Leave or stay? I don't know. Staying is making me F'ing miserable right now. HTFU. Just do it. Damn. *sigh*

What???

A new week, but nothing really new. My right hamstring is still a bit sore, the medial joint line of right knee still hurts a bit. It just sucks big time right now and not just the knee/leg problems. Just everything. I don't think the actual mountain ride was the cause of the pain I'm having now...I think it was the lowering of the saddle that 0.5cm and then doing that ride. But, I'm going to leave it there for now, as it does feel a bit more comfortable than before.

I think I also need to work on strengthening the hamstrings and the VMO (vastus medialis obliquus) muscle. Stretching is just going to have to become a habit 'cause sitting at this damn desk/computer all day does nothing but hurt the situation. I am getting up and stretching the hammies just about every hour. And back on the 800mg of ibuprofen. *sigh*

I managed to do some powerstarts yesterday...had a max power of 780w. I want to break 800w. Might try again on Wednesday. Think I probably need to make sure I use just a bit easier gear so that I can get the cadence up into the 90's instead of the low 80's or lower. Well, see. Might try a long ride on Saturday. I haven't ridden long since the Frostbite Tour and I really need to ride long just to do it and to get away.

Dang. I am in serious need of some hugs. :( I don't feel like writing any more about riding right now, except to say I should have a package in the mail this afternoon...zero offset seatpost. Hope there are some instructions on what I'm supposed to do as far as set up...

Cramping Issues

Well, I’ve decided to go see my PT this afternoon. The cramping that I had on the Frostbite Tour and my recent mountain ride has left my calf/knee/hamstring really hurting. I have been stretching since the Frostbite, but it’s not helping a lot right now. Hurts like the dickens right now. Well, I suppose it (stretching) is helping, but I need to go see Matt and let him work his magic. It’s going to hurt like hell this afternoon.

Damnit. My hamstring hurts. Medial side of knee hurts. The tendonitis/bursitis has really flared back up. Matt wants to see me for 5 visits. Deep massage, ultrasound, & ionophoresis to get some steroid stuff into the painful/inflamed area. He did suggest or mention that I could get a shot (still doesn't recommend it) and then a step-down steroid to help with reducing the inflammation. Doesn't really like that idea, because he knows I won't stop riding and that it may just do more harm because I'll be feeling good and work harder.

He would really like for me to take a couple of months off - no riding what-so-ever and maybe this would really heal. I just can't do that right now. Can't or won't? Doesn't matter. It's not happening right now. He will try to 'enable' me so that I can continue riding this spring/summer/fall, but really suggests that I take off from around Thanksgiving till maybe the first of February and heal. I don't know...if I can make it until then I might think about it.

Such a bummer. I can't stop riding. I would be 10x as cranky as I am now. This is my only way to relieve the personal (& work related) stress that just piles up on me. Damnit.

The cramping is really annoying. I’ve never had problems like this before with cramping. After about 30-35mi, I start cramping in my right inner calf. Always starts on the right side. Sometimes, I can get it to stop or lessen, but lately I’ve not had any such luck. This past Sunday on the Burningtown route, I started getting the cramps in both calves after, probably 2 hours of riding. It then, as usual, progressed up my leg to the VMO muscle. So, if I got out of the saddle to climb, my right quad would start to cramp. Makes climbing really hard. After the ride was very bad. Got back to the car and as soon as I did, I had a cramp in my right quad even before getting off the bike. Then another one in the left quad. Damn, those suckers hurt!

Could be that the cramping is caused by the weight loss that’s occurring. And, since I’m not eating a whole lot, I’m sure that there’s some deficiencies in some key minerals. Probably dehydration as well because I’ve been very slack about drinking my water too. But, since this past Sunday, I have stopped drinking the diet Sundrop and replaced it with water. I was consuming probably 2 -2.5 20oz bottles a day and no water. I’m now doing at least 72oz of water a day (no Sundrop’s) and adding Lite Salt to my food. Hopefully, that will help some.

I’m also making some changes to the fit on the bike…this might have a little bit to do with the hamstring soreness. Lowered my saddle 0.5cm to help get my foot in a more level position as I pedal instead of the toe-down pedaling I have been doing. It could be that the toe-down pedaling is contributing to the calf cramping. But, I really think it’s more due to lack of proper minerals/vitamins and dehydration that I’ve been having such problems with cramping.

I do have an appointment with my regular doctor on Monday concerning the weight loss. He’s aware of it and I’ve been under his supervision (somewhat) since August of last year. I hope to be down to some respectable weight (155-160 pounds) by June and will discontinue the meds & weight loss then. That will be soooo nice to be that slim again! Anyways, maybe I need to supplement the diet with some vitamins or something else – blood test needed to check for deficiencies?? Yuck, I hope not. Needles=bad.

New Chain Ring FTW!!

I've had some problems recently with my chain coming off the big ring when trying to do PowerStarts in a 50/13-14 or so combo. Finally decided, after noticing that some teeth on the ring looked like some metal was shaved off, to get a new 50t ring, cassette & chain. I'm full SRAM now. No Shimano on the bike now.

Anyways, I put this stuff on last night and planned on doing a zone 2 ride this evening. Figured that I would also try some PowerStarts to see if the chain came off. !!W00t!!! This fixed it! I was able to do them in the 50/13 combo. Yay!! If it doesn't rain Saturday, I'm going to try to do them again, but in a slightly easier gear - 50/15, so that I can get the cadence up to 95+. I am thrilled!!

New Kid, Mechanics & Set-up

Well, the ride with the new guy on Monday wasn’t too bad. He’s a strong rider or I was just really tired. I vote for the latter. Good grief! This guy is really young! 24yo and really tall. Probably about 6’4” and skinny as a rail. How skinny? Ummm, like a Rasmussen type of skinny! Seriously – he can’t weigh much more than 165-170 pounds. We rode up to Falls Lake, near Blue Jay Point and then back down Six Forks/Strickland to the start point. It was a good ride, but my legs were not recovered from the mountain ride and every hill burned like crazy. No problem keeping up with him on the flatter sections and I could keep up with him on the hills until the last third, then just blow up.

This kid has the same surge that everyone else I ride with has – as they come to the crest of the climb they just seem to accelerate over the top. The one (of many) thing that I’m not able to do at this time. Damnit. But, it is something that I will start working on more diligently. Must learn to ride more conservatively on the bottom third of the climb, pick it up a bit on the middle third, and on the last third pick up the pace a bit more…practice, practice, practice. Very frustrating – these climbs are.

I finally got around to changing out the 50T chain ring, cassette, and chain on my bike. It appears that there is a piece missing on the old ring – a pin of some type that keeps the chain from coming off to the outside. Doh! The new ring has this pin, old one just has a hole where this pin used to be. It was a farkin’ PITA to get those chain ring bolts out, but I finally did. My hands are so sore this morning and I ruined a shirt last night getting grease on it. Oh well. It was actually sorta fun to do. No other way to learn. The cassette was a breeze to replace. The chain, well, I used the same length as the old one, but I cannot get the Power Link to install correctly. It won’t close completely. I’ll be going to the LBS at lunch to get it fixed and make sure everything is ok before riding this afternoon.

Going to be a tough week…high cadence drills this afternoon, tomorrow will be either 4x6min or 3x8min zone4 intervals (probably should do the 8min ones), then on Friday it’s GASP!!! 5!!!x3min VO2max intervals. 5!!! I’ll probably really suffer with these (no probably to it – I will). But, if you’re not hurting you’re not working hard enough! I figure I need to do these at least once a week and work up to doing more. Or decrease the length and increase the frequency of these.

Oh yea, going to make a few changes to the bike setup after my ride Sunday with Andy & his friends. One of the guys used to coach and he had a couple of suggestions for increasing my power or efficiency on the bike. He seems to think that I need to move the saddle forward about an inch, which will allow me to put more power into the pedal stroke. Suggested, during our ride to scoot forward some on the saddle, but this just wasn’t comfortable – felt too scrunched up. So, will have to make changes to the setup and hope it helps.

Since I have a setback seat post, I don’t have enough room to move the saddle forward an inch. This means that I will have to get a new seat post with 0 setback and a new stem. I picked up the stem yesterday – a 110mm! It seems really long compared to the 90mm that I currently use. I’ll just have to borrow one (seat post) for now before I buy one to make sure this is going to work. Hopefully, I can get these changes done this week and try it out on Saturday.

Got some new tunes for my iPod to use for climbing. Well, they’re not “new” new, but new additions to what’s currently on the Pod. I’m going to try these when climbing: Everybody Hurts/REM, Closer/NIN*, Hey Man Nice Shot/Filter, MeatPlow/STP, and The End/The Doors. *NIN=Nine Inch Nails. AC/DC is good, but it’s not working any more….

650 miles - I'm certifiable

Yep. I'm certifiable. Crazy. 650 miles roundtrip to do a 46 mile group ride in Franklin. 66F, beautiful sunny skies! What more could you ask for??

I was up visiting my Dad in Valdese and had planned on riding Hwy 80 from Marion, up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Once that far, I would decide whether to turn around or maybe ride towards Mt Mitchell. So, I planned on riding up that way this weekend, just hadn't planned on the Franklin trip. But, it's all good.

My uncle was visiting my Dad Saturday evening and wanted to see my bike. I take it out of the car, bring it inside to show him. I then notice that there's movement in the fork/stem area. WTH? I think maybe I just didn't get the compression plug tightened enough after I removed a spacer. I tighten a little bit more. Nope. That didn't fix it. I didn't know you had to put that spacer back on the top under the cap when you removed them..Doh!

So, I get up with my friend Andy and tell him what's going on & ask if it's safe to ride...He tells me that he wouldn't ride it like that - it's not safe. OK. Great. Now what the hell do I do?? I ended up driving 1:45hr Sunday morning, meeting him in Sylva and he added a spacer which fixed the problem. So, now I'm out there, might as well do the group ride. I'm not going to be in the mountains and not ride! No way!

We meet a couple of his friends about an hour before the actual group ride and get a nice little warm-up in. I felt pretty good except that I couldn't breath too well. The cold air just makes my lungs close up. I drank a Coke and that seemed to help.

The rest of the group arrives and we head on out to do the Burningtown Loop. I really like that route! I did pretty well on the route - falling behind on the climbs as usual, but able to keep up fairly well on the flatter sections. One point, in the beginning of the ride, we're all descending and I'm trying to catch a couple of the guys. Tucked really tight, coming up on a curve...uh oh!! That curve is way sharper than I realized!! Hit the brakes! Lock/skid the rear wheel! When I feel it skidding, I let off the brakes and thought I might be able to make the turn, but I couldn't 'cause I still had too much speed. Damn. OK. Up that driveway then. I'm glad the driveway was there instead of some drop-off down the side of the mountain!!! Sheesh. Hop off the bike walk it down the drive and play catch up again. Smelled like burning brakes!

Other than that little incident I had a great time. The climbs were, as usual, hard for me, but they were not as hard as the last time I rode that route. I guess I'm getting stronger. Plus, the weight loss is bound to be helping too. The only big problem I had was cramping again. I farkin' hate it. Every damn ride I do lately, I'm cramping. Starts in my right inner calf, then the left one. Then my right VMO muscle when I stand to climb. Killer quad cramps after the ride yesterday.

Thinking back...most of this cramping has happened since I've been losing weight...from about August of last year. Suggestions I've got are to start adding Lite Salt to my diet, taking a vitamin, and making sure I'm getting hydrated. I fail on all three of those things currently. I did add the Lite Salt to my eggs this morning and had a V-8. Got a 32oz bottle of water at the desk too. I've got to get that solved.

So, it was a great weekend! 7 hours driving yesterday, 3 hours cycling. LOL. What I do for a ride in the mountains. I seriously need to win that $173 million dollar lottery so I can quit work and move to the mountains :) And buy a new bike :) I might just buy a new bike if I lose another 23 pounds.